Biden campaign seizes on reports Trump allies have declared election illegitimate

President Biden’s reelection campaign is seizing on reports that allies of former President Trump are declaring that the 2024 election will not be legitimate.

The campaign has labeled the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 as “Trump’s Project 2025,” although Trump has distanced himself from the initiative. On Friday, it declared it's “Jan 6 Déjà Vu” after reports that a Heritage Foundation presentation the day before included claims without evidence that federal powers will influence November's election.

“As things stand right now, there’s a zero percent chance of a free and fair election,” said Mike Howell, executive director of Heritage’s Oversight Project, The Washington Post reported. “I’m formally accusing the Biden administration of creating the conditions that most reasonable policymakers and officials cannot in good conscience certify an election.”

Trump has said he has “nothing to do” with the Project 2025 initiative and disagrees with some of its aspects. The right-wing think tank’s proposal outlines various policies and initiatives that it hope a future Republican administration would administer.

“The architects of Trump’s Project 2025, who less than a week ago threatened violence and still push lies about the 2020 election Donald Trump lost, are laying the groundwork to try and steal another election,” said Biden campaign spokesperson James Singer. “This document is nothing more than an attempt to justify their efforts to suppress the vote, undermine the election, and ultimately another January 6.”

The Biden campaign also argued that Trump, the GOP and his choice for vice president “still push the lie that Donald Trump did not lose the 2020 election” and that Trump “just wants power.”

Trump, who has not recognized Biden publicly as the rightful winner of the 2020 election, has repeatedly pushed false claims that there was fraud in the last election, despite numerous recounts and investigations that found no meaningful evidence of widespread fraud.