Comedian and podcast host Marc Maron has strongly attacked President Donald Trump, calling him a “thug” who is likely playing a “puppet” for Project 2025 mastermind Russ Vought.
Maron made the remarks on the August 23 edition of Pod Save America, in which he appeared as a guest on host Jon Lovett’s podcast to discuss comedy, politics, and media. He maintained that while Trump asserts himself as the voice of the movement, a great deal of actual power belongs to conservative strategists such as Vought who are driving federal policy with Project 2025.
“We have a president who is a thug,” Maron stated. “No matter what you think of Trump, he’s still a puppet to something that is larger that he doesn’t care about, as long as he can be the guy out front.”
Vought, now the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is guiding Trump’s policy and regulatory agenda throughout the executive branch. He was also a primary author of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, an ambitious conservative proposal aimed at consolidating executive authority and entrenching a long-term right-wing agenda.
Project 2025, initially written in preparation for a second term by Trump, envisions scaling back the role of career civil servants, concentrated authority in the White House, and reorganizing regulatory commissions. Its proponents say it’s needed to curb what they perceive as an entrenched, wasteful bureaucracy. Opponents call it an unprecedented consolidation of power with the potential to erode democratic checks and balances.
Now that Trump is back in office, large portions of the blueprint are being worked into federal agencies, leaving officials like Vought with disproportionate sway over the trajectory of the government. Although Trump has objected to direct authorship of Project 2025, policies under his administration flow directly into its objectives.
Maron’s remarks point to increasing criticism among commentators that Trump’s presidency is not so much about autonomous decision-making but rather about pursuing a pre-determined conservative agenda. By positioning Trump as a “puppet” of Vought and Project 2025, Maron pointed to the dread that executive authority is being used to impose long-term structural reforms without bipartisan support.
Newsweek said requests for comment were made to the White House and the OMB but had not come back as of publication.
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