The former head of Project 2025, a right-wing plan to transform the U.S. government created by many of Donald Trump’s former officials, has called on the former president to replace his two campaign managers if he wants to win the presidential election in November.

Paul Dans, who resigned from his post as project director in July after Trump distanced himself from the project, directed his attack at Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, blaming the advisers for a series of mistakes that he said jeopardized the Republican candidate’s chances of defeating Kamala Harris.

Dans accused them of being overconfident and of not adequately preparing Trump for the possibility that Harris could replace Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee, a development that changed the race in which Trump had previously been in the lead, according to polls.

“Trump should be running like Secretariat at Belmont Park, but instead it’s a race on the edge,” Dans told the New York Times.

He also accused Trump’s campaign advisers of “misconduct” and said their misjudgments led to an embarrassing public reversal, following which Trump finally announced that he was distancing himself from the “Project 2025” document.

Criticism of the Trump campaign from the right has increased in recent weeks as the former president has tried to create at least the appearance of a moderate stance on some policy proposals and issues, including reproductive rights.

While there was little direct criticism of Trump himself, the hashtag #FireLaCivita was briefly a trending topic on social media.

Dans, who served in the White House for two years under Trump, led the work at the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, which produced Project 2025. The 922-page work proposes a series of radical plans to transform the government – such as replacing tens of thousands of career civil servants with Trump loyalists, abolishing the Department of Education and drastic restrictions on abortion and contraception.

The document has been called a manifesto for Trump’s presidency, and Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, said in a podcast that the project would “usher in a second revolution that would be bloodless if the left allowed it.”

As criticism mounted, Trump eventually responded by claiming he was distancing himself from the plan. He falsely claimed he did not know its architects – even though most of them had previously worked for him and he had delivered the keynote address at their annual conference. He also called the plan’s proposals “ridiculous and abysmal.”

LaCivita described the project as “torment” at the Republican Party convention in Milwaukee.

According to a New York Times and CNN poll, 75 percent of American voters had heard of Project 2025, but 63 percent strongly opposed its content.

When Dans resigned in July, LaCivita and Wiles released a statement strongly condemning the project and bluntly warning anyone involved not to make their alleged ties to Trump public.

“The Trump campaign has made it very clear for over a year that Project 2025 has nothing to do with the campaign, does not speak for the campaign, and should not be associated with the campaign or in any other way,” they said.

“Reports on the end of Project 2025 would be very welcome and should serve as a warning to anyone or any group attempting to misrepresent their influence on President Trump and his campaign. This will not end well for you.”

Responding to CNN on Tuesday, Dans said: “With pardon, Mark Twain, I would say the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

Asked whether he thought Trump’s campaign managers were doing a good job, he pointedly avoided mentioning LaCivita and Wiles, but praised the recent return of Corey Lewandowski, the pugnacious former manager of the 2016 campaign, and the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who recently put his own independent campaign on hold to support Trump.

In a statement to the Times, Trump responded to Dans’ comments: “Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita are doing a great job. I couldn’t be happier with them.”

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