Growing & Fighting Back
Dear CoupStoppers,
Our campaign has entered a new mach level of growth and we thank you for being part of it, especially the more than 1500 of you who have recently subscribed to this Newsletter! This week, we reached 117,000 unique visitors to our website since January, with a huge spike in June. In the past weeks, many new people and groups have reached out to join the campaign, discuss collaborations and Town Halls, and offer to help. We now have nearly 200 volunteers with new teams focused on swing state outreach (see below).
Our social media is also growing fast: we have almost 5000 followers on X (Twitter) @stopthecoup2025, many journalists and young people, and over 1100 on both Instagram and TikTok #StopTheCoup2025 and #StopProject2025. It’s all evidence we’re reaching Americans – and a global public.
Ironically, we can also thank Donald Trump and his campaign’s denial of a connection to Project 2025 for the growing media attention to Project 2025. As even MAGA voters recoil from Project 2025’s extremist agenda, Trump and conservative leaders are freaking out. But Trump’s denial has backfired, because, as we and others reported, 81% of Project 2025’s authors, editors, and contributors are ex-Trump officials, transition team, or active campaign members (see “Who’s Who: The Ties That Bind”). Now, many more people also know how closely Agenda 47, Trump’s official campaign, mimics Project 2025’s ideas.
That’s not all. Project 2025 has been labeled “toxic” to conservatives voters – and right-wing donors, causing groups to abandon Project 2025 – at least on paper. Seven advisory groups have removed themselves from the list, including a big player, America First, led by Steven Miller, the architect of Trump’s cruel immigration policies and a key contributor to Project 2025.
The bottom line? Our advocacy and public messaging is working. But we need to counter the denialism and tell America the truth about Project 2025. We also need to put an investigative spotlight on who’s funding Project 2025, including corporations like Hobby Lobby, and the pharma lobby. PhRMA gave $550,000 to advisory groups involved in Project 2025. Let’s speak out against their funding of far-right hate.
OUR TERRIFIC VOLUNTEERS
In June, we launched seven state teams of volunteers now doing swing state research to identify community organizations active in 15 core sectors of Project 2025’s agenda. We’re targeting our outreach to key audiences. We’ve spoken to large virtual audiences of Black faith networks, women’s groups, and co-moderated an important AVAC virtual webinar on Project 2025’s attacks on global health, HIV and science.
A special thanks to volunteers including Lisa Joy, who helped us in June to spark our youth and faith network outreach, and Saba Bando, our new amazing volunteer coordinator. We also have contributors to thank. Every single donation is making a difference and encouraging our team. Thank you so much! All donations are tax-deductible.
BRAND NEW: Our Toolkit for Community Organizers
We recently pivoted to focus on the mobilization and fight back parts of our educational mission. You may have seen the 35+ ally toolkits we posted in our Resources section. They offer practical tools, models, and strategies for taking action on key topics of Project 2025.
Now, I’m excited to share our campaign Toolkit for Community Organizers, a project that we’ve worked on hard for many weeks. It was designed with YOU in mind – all of you coup stoppers and community organizers -- to facilitate community discussions about Project 2025 and how it may impact people locally, and what they can do to prepare and fight back. Check it out and share it widely. Let’s spark more critical conversations and resistance!
We included a Spotlight on Risk Preparedness, and urge everyone to look at that. It includes a section on Underground Survival Tips from LGBTQIA+ activists in Russia and Uganda who are surviving LGBTQIA+ and NGO criminalization, working under the radar. They have lessons to offer. One big take-away message is: we all need to take steps now, not later, to assess our vulnerability (our groups/communities/networks /governments) to Project 2025’s agenda and act now to be better prepared. See our tools to get you started.
We hope you’ll spread this message. Whoever wins in November, the Christian Right is not stopping, and Project 2025’s agenda is unfolding in our courts and states, and abroad. We must act now. As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
WHAT’S AHEAD
Join Our NYC Time Squares #StopProject2025 protest rally July 27th at 7 pm.
This Saturday, we’re hosting a big rally in Times Square with a growing roster of co-sponsors and speakers from the ACLU who are engaged in fighting Project 2025. Join us if you’re nearby and tell others.
Register for our webinar on Project 2025’s Impact on HIV-Affected Communities in the US, Latin America, and the Caribbean - August 8th, 2-3:30 EST
Join the Zoom conversation on August 8th (flyer below) with Anne-christine d’Adesky, Javier Morales, Marcela Alcina, Andy Tapia, and Memory Rhone, as we discuss Project 2025’s Impact on HIV-Affected Communities in the US, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Register here. (In Spanish, English translation provided).
Finally, we’ve added new content on our website, including a spotlight on Veterans, more Spanish content, and we’re uploading French content soon. Gracias and Merci to our volunteer translators. You’re the best!
Last updates: Yes, we plan to be in Chicago at the Democratic National Convention to talk about stopping Project 2025. If you’ll be there, get in touch. Let’s ELEVATE the message together!
In resistance,
Anne-christine and the STC 2025 Team
