A former Democratic fundraiser says Vice President Kamala Harris was quietly positioning herself to inherit President Joe Biden’s donor network in the days before he ended his re-election bid, even as she publicly insisted Biden could still win.
Lindy Li, who once raised money for both Biden and Harris and held a prominent role with the Democratic National Committee, made the claims in an interview with Fox News Digital tied to her new book, “Unburdened.” Li has since left the Democratic Party, saying she grew frustrated that warning signs about Biden’s decline during the 2024 campaign went unheeded.
According to Li, Harris held calls with major donors in which she defended Biden’s candidacy while privately laying groundwork to become the nominee herself.
“It was all charade. She was auditioning for Biden’s endorsement, and the way that she did it was by imposing a fake rule on her staff to not talk about her ascending to the nomination,” Li said.
Li said she was on one such call herself. “I was on the call; she would host calls with donors and pretend to support Biden and say there’s no daylight between Biden and herself. All the while she was auditioning for those very donors,” she said.
A Call Two Days Before Biden Stepped Aside
Li recalled a specific donor call on what she believes was July 19, 2024, in which Harris told some of the party’s largest contributors that Biden had no intention of dropping out and that she would remain loyal to him “until the end.”
Biden announced two days later, on July 21, that he would not seek re-election.
Li said that once Biden made his announcement, Harris moved quickly to consolidate support within the party, even before Biden had formally endorsed her.
“She was flattering people left and right. The first 24 hours were a very intensive charm offensive on her part. And that’s how she was able to consolidate it so quickly,” Li said. “She flattered people up the wazoo. It made it abundantly clear that Biden had endorsed her.”
Li noted that Biden did not immediately back Harris. His statement announcing he would not run again was followed roughly 30 minutes later by a second message in which he endorsed her.
Donors’ Reaction
Li said many wealthy donors were not convinced by Harris’s earlier assurances that Biden was fit to continue running.
“A lot of us have group chats. And the immediate reaction is what an effing waste of time. What a charade, how fake. Like these are like the wealthiest people in the country saying that. They were very aware they were being lied to, that Biden was clearly not okay and to be told that he was okay when he was clearly incapacitated,” Li said. “It was insulting.”
Representatives for Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
