Politics

DNC announces 2024 party platform draft outlining Biden agenda, contrast with Trump

Written by ABC Audio ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on July 13, 2024

(WASHINGTON) — The Democratic National Committee announced on Saturday that they’ve drafted their 2024 party platform. The platform outlines priorities for Democrats to “finish the job” under the Biden-Harris administration, but also distinctly emphasizes their differences with former President Donald Trump.

The document was released following two drafting committee meetings this week that included input from voters. It outlines symbolic plans for the party ahead of the next four years but notably draws direct comparisons between their own planks and the Republican National Committee platform rubber-stamped by Trump.

The DNC’s announcement of the platform draft also compares their own language against Project 2025 — a plan to overhaul the federal government proposed by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative group closely aligned with the former president, though Trump has tried to distance himself from the blueprint.

“Architects of Project 2025 at the helm of the RNC Platform Committee to help him implement his extreme agenda to institute a national abortion ban, give handouts to his billionaire donors on the backs of middle-class Americans, make cuts to Medicare and Social Security, and ensure he can be a dictator on day one,” the Democrats’ press release reads.

The 80-page Democratic platform draft is significantly longer than the 16-page Republican platform approved by a party committee this week at their summer meeting, which will be voted on Monday at the RNC convention.

The draft of the Democratic platform will be voted upon on Tuesday by the DNC’s Platform Committee.

While the Trump-backed GOP platform includes 20 fixed statements focused on the immigration, tax-cuts, ending the “weaponization of the government” against Americans and certain social issues, among other points, the Biden-backed Democratic platform draft was announced under nine headers, all rolled out with direct contrast to “Donald Trump’s Project 2025 Plans.”

The headers emphasize Biden’s plans to grow the economy, tackle the climate crisis, strengthen democracy, secure the border and more.

In a statement, DNC Chair Jaime Harrison accused the RNC of using their “extreme MAGA” platform to implement the “toxic and dangerous” Project 2025.

“Our Drafting Committee incorporated a diverse set of expertise and perspectives, inviting Democrats from across the nation to participate in our process and contribute to our Platform. The breadth and depth of this Platform is rooted in our collective experience and reflects a bold agenda that affirms Democrats’ commitment to protecting fundamental freedoms,” Harrison said in a statement.

Days after Trump sought to distance himself from Project 2025 on social media, his former adviser Stephen Miller also appeared to back away from Project 2025. He asked the project’s organizers to remove his organization — America First Legal — from a list of advisory board members for the project. Representatives for Project 2025 have not commented to ABC News on Miller and Trump’s apparent repudiation of the plan.