'He thinks we’re dumb': MSNBC hosts skewer Trump’s 'specifically unspecific' policy plan

Earlier this week, the Centre for Climate Reporting — a British not-for-profit investigative journalism organization — released video footage of former Donald Trump official Russel Vought explaining his hand in ensuring that the right-wing, 900-page policy plan, Project 2025, would prevail under a possible second Trump term.

While Trump denies that he has anything to do with Project 2025, CNN reported:

Vought said his group, the Center for Renewing America, was secretly drafting hundreds of executive orders, regulations, and memos that would lay the groundwork for rapid action on Trump’s plans if he wins, describing his work as creating 'shadow' agencies. He claimed that Trump has 'blessed' his organization and 'he’s very supportive of what we do.'

Pointing to the video footage of Vought on Sunday's episode of MSNBC's The Weekend, co-hosts Symone Sanders-Townsend, Michael Steele, and Alicia Menendez slammed the former president's insult on Americans' intelligence.

READ MORE: Project 2025 head forced out: report

"This just shows the disrespect, frankly, that Donald Trump has for the IQ of the American people," Sanders-Townsend said.

"In other words, he thinks we're stupid," Steele added. "Yes, he thinks we're dumb and he can just say whatever, and we'll just take his word, even though we see all of these people associated with Project 2025 that are associated with you," Sanders-Townsend continued.

She then read off a list of ex-Trump administration officials who've contributed to the project, including Ken Cuchinelli, Gene Hamilton, Rick Dearborn, Rick Dearborn, and Ben Carson.

"You can't escape it," Steele said. Look, no one believes the lie and the fantasy that somehow this effort — which I know began back in the day, when my friend K. Cole James was running Heritage, and it was some real consternation about what this would turn out to be, the direction that it was headed — and here we are.

READ MORE: Anti-Trump GOP group posts video of him praising Project 2025 authors after his latest denial

"This has not been a short-term thing...Everybody in Trumpworld had their hand in it, and played a role in fashioning this for a second Trump term. So don't look me in the face and tell me that that's not the case. Now they are backstroking. Backstroke 'til the cows come home, baby, but you own this."

Menendez added, "Donald Trump has not distanced himself from a single policy. It's not that he says, 'No, no, no, I promise that I am not going to fire 50,000 government' and, 'No, no, no, I don't want to gut the Department of Education.' He is being specifically unspecific, which is what he always does."

"When Donald Trump did his chitchat with Elon Musk, he endorsed gutting the Department of Education," Sanders noted, "saying we need to get rid of it. So he talked about a number of things that are, in fact within that 900-page document and Project 2025. So I just really think people need to take this seriously, because this is what they are going to do if they get reelected."

Menendez then emphasized, "In addition to these policies not be normal, I also want to say this is not what a normal transition looks like. A normal transition — it is not a multiyear commitment with hundreds of thousands of dollars spent, and this many people staffed in advance."

READ MORE: Undercover video details Project 2025’s secretive 'second phase' — and exposes Trump’s connection

"And to be clear, normally, a transition is funded by the United States government," Sanders added. "So right now, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, the vice president, they have access to the transition, and they should be standing up transition teams, and those teams should be liaisoning with their potential counterparts in the government, so that whomever wins is ready to do more of a deep dive, post- November, but that is too much like right?

Steele concluded, "But when your goal is to deconstruct the government — transition? There is no transition. We're taking it all down. So, there you are."

Watch the video below or at this link.

- YouTubeyoutu.be