Trump really doesn’t do much for other Republicans. Between his run for office and millions of dollars in legal expenses, Trump vacuums up the largest amount of campaign cash, leaving less money for GOP candidates downstream. His lies and distortions prompt reporters to go running to down-ballot Republicans for their reaction to his twisted and often dangerous campaign rhetoric. His detached demagogic tantrums draw Republicans into fights they don’t want.
So when Trump showed up in Montana this summer with his full circus-like sideshow of doom to promote equally sketchy GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy, a lot of people noted how out of character that was for Trump. After all, doing a favor for a Republican is usually not how Trump does business.
But Sheehy is Trump’s guy, and Montana is the real prize. Sheehy hopes to join a notorious cabal of elected leaders in federal and state government, backed by out-of-state interests and cash, that intends to transform Montana into a MAGA-ruled dominion. Sheehy and his cohorts aspire to model Montana after states like Arkansas, Mississippi or Oklahoma, where MAGA rules, and healthcare, the rights of women, and fresh economic opportunity for all are in steep decline.
“I gotta like Tim Sheehy a lot to be here,” Trump told a rally in support of Sheehy, where Trump whined and complained that he had to fly too far to get to Montana and do too much driving once he got there. It was a typical Trump endorsement. It was mostly about Trump, not the minion Sheehy, whom he was endorsing.
Sheehy and Trump are a good fit. They both stink up a room with their toxic rhetoric, they both share a reputation for shady business practices, they both spew tales as high as the Rockies, and they both are committed to the extreme Trumpist agenda known as Project 2025.
Sheehy is running a Project 2025 campaign, and Sheehy hopes he will become the latest Republican to mold Montana into a Project 2025 state. Adhering closely to Project 2025, Sheeny’s agenda would hurt women, children, the elderly, veterans, and Montana’s ancient Native American lineage.
Montana is becoming the front line for the war on women. Sheehy’s support for Trump’s agenda would mean eliminating provisions that protect Montana women with pre-existing conditions, forcing mothers, sisters, daughters and friends in Montana to either pay more for health insurance or go without. In addition, right wing abortion activists in support of Sheehy are on the ground promoting an agenda so extreme it calls for cracking down on local officials who don’t prosecute abortion bans. In addition, about 151,000 women in Montana lose existing guaranteed access to emergency contraception, and access to contraception through the mail is banned.
About one-third of children in Montana have pre-existing conditions. Senate Republicans intend to end protections that guarantee those children healthcare coverage, but they need Sheehy to win to do it. In addition, Sheehy’s agenda would end Head Start for 3,870 children in Montana, which is particularly crippling in rural areas where there is already a shortage of child care options needed to free up families to work. The agenda wipes out school lunch programs and additional assistance for children for countless Montana families.
Seniors and retirees in Montana get hit the hardest in the wallet under the scheme. The retirement age for Social Security would be raised for 788,825 people, about 70 percent of Montana residents. The median-wage Montana retiree would lose $46,000 to $100,000 over 10 years, according to analysis. In addition, prescription drugs for up to 54,010 people in Montana by eliminating out-of-pocket Medicare drug cost limits, and the government can no longer negotiate to lower drug prices.
Montana is already a Project 2025 laboratory for shifting the tax burden from the wealthy onto the middle class. A middle class family sees an average tax increase of $2,687 a year, while super rich get an average annual tax cut of $1.5 million. It's already created a wave of super-rich outsiders buying up land in Montana. Under Sheehy it will continue.
Sheehy isn’t alone in this devious endeavor. If elected he would join a sleeper cell of MAGA goblins holding office in Montana. Sen. Steve Daines, the Republican in charge of winning Senate campaigns across the country this year, recruited Sheehy. Daines, who like Sheehy is a transplant who moved to Montana, gained recent notoriety when he killed the strongest bipartisan bill that would have cracked down on illegal immigration. Daines carried the water in the Senate for Trump, who feared his re-election chances would be hurt by doing something real about the border, as the bill would have done.
Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke was wrapped up in so much spending, questionable business dealings and ethics transgressions as Interior secretary that it was even too much for Trump, who forced Zinke to resign. Another Sheehy ally, Gov. Greg Gianforte, has a history of violence and is credited with bungling the post-pandemic drawdown of healthcare coverage that threatened to close hospitals and nursing homes. More than 134,000 Montanas have lost healthcare coverage so far, including 30,000 children, under Gianforte.
The cabal of Montana Republicans all have tried to distance themselves from Project 2025, but it can't be done when you consider Daines’ own national security advisor Chris Anderson helped write Project 2025. Project 2025 outright hails Zinke as one of its most committed lawmakers. What’s amazing is how Montana Republican leaders embrace Project 2025 even though the vast majority of Montana residents oppose Project 2025.
Montana is at a crossroads. These aren't the guys you want making sure Montanans are safe. These aren't the guys you want making sure Montana roads are clear and Montana river levels are being monitored. These aren't the guys you want protecting Montanans water rights or making sure Montana's lights stay on. These aren't the guys you want maintaining Montana public lands. These aren't the guys you can trust to lure visitor dollars to Montana. These aren't the guys you want to do business with in Montana or anywhere else.
Adding Sheehy into the Trump sandbox would only heighten the threat to democracy, open a new front on the war on individual rights and freedom, and increase the chance that innocent people are victims of the Project 2025 agenda and all the chaos it would bring. It would be a travesty for Montana voters to send a misfit transplant like Sheehy to represent their needs in Washington over a loyal, proven and respected dirt farmer from Big Sandy, Jon Tester. That's an understatement.
Written by Ken Bazinet, a former White House correspondent, has covered three presidents and five presidential elections. Still writing, he works with organizations and individuals that focus on opening and expanding ballot access to Black, Latino, Women, Native American, pro-worker and rural voters. He is third generation organized labor.