How Project 2025 could help a former Trump executive become White House gatekeeper

This is an adapted excerpt from the episode from July 10 from “All In with Chris Hayes”.

Donald Trump really wants you to believe that he has nothing to do with Project 2025, the 900-page wish list of far-right proposals he could implement if he wins the presidential election in November. He even went so far as to say, “I have no idea who is behind it.”

Well, someone who Is John McEntee is behind Project 2025. He was frequently seen in photos with Trump, holding the former president’s bag. McEntee was Trump’s bodyman – basically a personal assistant – during the first few years of his term, and that didn’t end well.

In 2018, McEntee was abruptly ousted from his post and escorted off the White House grounds while the Secret Service investigated serious financial crimes. According to the Wall Street Journal, McEntee was a habitual gambler who bet tens of thousands of dollars at a time and was therefore considered a security risk. Then-Chief of Staff John Kelly essentially had him kicked off the White House grounds. We should note that McEntee was never charged with a crime.

Despite it all, McEntee remained loyal to Trump. The former college football player and Fox News production assistant believed so strongly in Trump’s message that in 2015 he repeatedly sent unsolicited emails to the Trump campaign begging for a job. The campaign eventually brought him on as a volunteer and then as a paid staffer. McEntee was so committed to the cause that he worked in a room in Trump Tower that had only three walls and an unfinished floor.

His loyalty to the boss paid off. After Trump fired Kelly, he brought McEntee back, this time as director of the Office of the President’s Personnel – the man who decided who could work for the president. In that role, McEntee worked to fire employees who were deemed not loyal enough, while also ensuring that only the most rabid Trump sycophants got jobs in the White House.

He was also heavily involved in Trump’s coup attempt, including efforts to pressure Mike Pence to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Journalist Jon Karl called him “the man who made January 6 possible.”

After the coup failed, McEntee parlayed his fame into a career as a conservative influencer, selling a MAGA dating app and posting crazy videos on social media, including one in which he bragged about giving homeless people counterfeit money. McEntee later claimed the video was a hoax. That sounds like a pretty gross and weird hoax to me.

So why are we talking about John McEntee? Well, he’s now a senior adviser to Project 2025, specifically its “presidential personnel database.” That’s Project 2025’s plan to occupy the White House if Trump wins in November. That means the cheating, gambling henchman from January 6 – who was too much of a security risk for the Trump administration – will be the one checking resumes the second time around. Is that someone you want at the helm of the most important personnel office in the country?

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com.