This articlefirst appeared on Mother Jones. It has been republished with the publications permission.On Wednesday morning,some of Trumps favorite fans finally felt comfortable joking about what the next president has long denied:Project 2025has always been the plan for a second Trump term.Now that the election is over I think we can finally say that yeah actually Project 2025 is the agenda. Lol, right-wing podcast host Matt Walshwrote in a post on Xof the900-plus-page extremist guidebook. Walshs message soon gotpicked up and promotedby Steve Bannon, Trumps former chief strategist who wasrecently releasedfrom prison, where he landed after ignoring a subpoena from the House January 6 Committee. Fabulous, Bannon said, chuckling, after reading Walshs post out loud on hisWar Roompodcast today. We might have to put that everywhere.Benny Johnson, a conservative YouTuber with 2.59 million followers who hascalledaffirmative action Nazi-level thinking and said Trump shouldprosecuteBiden for human trafficking of immigrants, also chimed in: It is my honor to inform you all that Project 2025 was real the whole time, hepostedon X. Your LGBTQ+ guide to Election 2024 Stay ahead of the 2024 Election with our newsletter that covers candidates, issues, and perspectives that matter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Bo French, a local Texas GOP official who recentlycame under firefor using slurs about gay people and people with disabilities on social media, wrote: Can we admit now that we are going to implement Project 2025?Walsh, Bannon, and the others are not the only people in Trumps orbit who have made these promises. While Trump has tried to distance himself from Project 2025,there is a long list of his connections to it, which include many people who have similarly said that Trump plans to enact the policies if reelected. Russell Vought, a potential next chief of staffprofiledby my colleague Isabela Dias, said in a secretly recorded meeting that Project 2025 is thereal Trump planand the distancing tactic was just campaign necessity.Spokespeople for the Trump campaign, the RNC, and the Heritage Foundationthe right-wing think tank behind the plandid not respond to repeated requests for comment fromMother Jones.If these claims are true, then Trump could potentially see an erosion of support from his base. As Ireportedin September, anNBC News pollfound that only 7 percent of GOP voters had positive views of Project 2025, while 33 percent held negative views. That is not entirely surprising when you consider the drastic ways it could radically reshape American life if enacted. It calls forbanning abortion pills nationwide;using big tech to surveil abortion access;rolling back climate policies;enabling workplace discrimination; andworsening wealth inequality.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.