The former leader of Project 2025, a right-wing blueprint for U.S. government reform 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 November presidential election.

Paul Dans, who stepped down as director of the project in July after Trump distanced himself from it, took aim at Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, blaming the advisers for a series of mistakes that he said jeopardized the Republican nominee’s chances of defeating Kamala Harris.

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

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

He also accused Trump’s campaign advisers of “malpractice” and said their misjudgments led to an embarrassing public U-turn, with Trump eventually claiming to reject the Project 2025 document.

Criticism of Trump’s campaign team from the right has grown in recent weeks as the former president has at least appeared to moderate his stance on a number of policy proposals and issues, including reproductive rights.

While there has been little direct criticism of Trump himself, the hashtag #FireLaCivita briefly trended on social media.

Dance, who served in the White House for two years under Trump, led the work at the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation that produced Project 2025. The 922-page tome lays out a series of radical plans to reshape government, including replacing tens of thousands of government workers with Trump loyalists, abolishing the Department of Education and slashing access to abortion and contraception.

The document has been described as a manifesto for Trump’s presidency, and Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said in a podcast that the project would “initiate a second revolution that would be bloodless if the left allowed it to be.”

As criticism mounted, Trump eventually responded by claiming to reject the plan, falsely claiming he did not know its architects — even though most of them used to work for him and he gave the keynote address at their annual conference — and calling the plan’s suggestions “ridiculous and appalling.”

LaCivita described the project as “an eyesore” during the Republican national convention in Milwaukee.

A New York Times/CNN poll found that 75% of American voters had heard of Project 2025, while 63% strongly opposed its content.

When Dans resigned in July, LaCivita and Wiles issued a statement strongly condemning the project and openly warning anyone associated with it not to try to promote their alleged ties to Trump.

“The Trump campaign has made it 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 in any way,” the spokespeople said.

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

Dance responded to CNN on Tuesday: “With apologies, Mark Twain, I would say that the reports of my passing have been greatly exaggerated.”

Asked whether he thought Trump’s campaign managers were doing a good job, he pointedly avoided mentioning LaCivita and Wiles. He did praise the recent return of Corey Lewandowski, the embattled former manager of the 2016 campaign, and the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who recently suspended his own independent campaign to support Trump.

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

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