A former top Democratic fundraiser says Vice President Kamala Harris was quietly positioning herself to inherit President Joe Biden’s donor network in the days before he dropped his 2024 re-election bid, even as she publicly insisted he 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, citing what she describes as ignored warning signs about Biden’s decline during the campaign.
“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 personally listened in on donor calls where Harris defended Biden’s candidacy while, in Li’s telling, simultaneously building relationships with the same wealthy donors who would soon be asked to back her own campaign.
“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,” Li said.
Li pointed to one call in particular, held just two days before Biden ended his campaign.
“It was either on July 19th or July 20th. Actually, I think it was July 19, 2024; Kamala Harris held a call saying that there was no way that Biden would drop out and that she would stick with him until the end. And these were some of the biggest donors in the party,” Li recalled.
Biden announced on July 21, 2024, that he would not seek re-election.
According to Li, Harris shifted quickly once Biden stepped aside, working to consolidate support within the party and suggesting she already had his blessing.
“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. She flattered people up the wazoo. It made it abundantly clear that Biden had endorsed her. And Biden initially — I don’t know if people know this, but he didn’t want to endorse her right away. It took him a while,” Li said.
Li said many donors were not fooled by Harris’s earlier insistence that Biden remained a viable candidate.
“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.
Representatives for Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
