November 9, 2024
In the aftermath of Vice President Kamala Harris’s surprising loss to President-elect Donald Trump, DNC National Finance Committee member and Harris campaign fundraiser Lindy Li shared a blunt postmortem of the campaign on Saturday, calling it an “epic disaster” and a “$1 billion disaster.” Speaking with Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Will Cain, Li pinpointed multiple missteps that, in her view, ultimately doomed Harris’s run, including Biden’s endorsement of Harris as his successor, overconfidence in polling, and former President Obama’s delayed endorsement.
“The truth is, this is just an epic disaster,” Li said. “This is a $1 billion disaster,” summing up her disappointment with the campaign’s result after raising more than $1 billion in donations, including millions raised directly by Li and her network.
Li didn’t hold back on her criticism, suggesting that Harris’s nomination was, in part, a decision forced by President Biden as a message to the party. “I actually think President Biden…endorsing her thirty minutes after he dropped out, I think that was a big ‘F you’ to the party,” she said. Cain asked if she meant Biden was “sticking it to the party” by backing Harris as the candidate, to which Li responded, “Kinda like sticking it to the man.”
As a fundraiser who championed Harris’s campaign, Li expressed frustration over being misled by polling data and campaign assurances that painted the race as a close “margin of error” contest. “I raised millions of that. I have friends that I have to be accountable to and to explain what happened because I told them it was a margin of error race. I was promised – [Harris campaign chair] Jen O’Malley Dillon promised all of us that Harris would win.”
According to Li, campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon projected an assured win for Harris, even releasing videos that conveyed strong confidence. But after the unexpected loss, Li admitted to feeling deceived. “I feel like a lot of us were misled,” she stated, wondering aloud if the campaign had access to internal numbers that justified their optimism.
Li also pointed to the delayed endorsement by Michelle and Barack Obama as another red flag that signaled unease within the party. “They waited three days – Michelle and Barack Obama waited three days to endorse Kamala Harris,” Li said, describing the silence as “heard round the world.” Li speculated that the Obamas hesitated to back Harris until Biden’s endorsement forced their hand, suggesting that they were vetting alternative candidates like Arizona Senator Mark Kelly before Harris’s nomination solidified.
The campaign loss, in Li’s view, reflected both internal challenges and external hesitation from key Democratic figures. In the end, she remarked, “I really think [Biden’s endorsement] was a big ‘F you’ to everybody.”
As Democrats grapple with the fallout, voices within the party are calling for reflection and accountability. For fundraisers like Li, who raised millions in support, the campaign’s messaging and polling strategies are now under intense scrutiny as the party seeks to understand how it lost the presidency despite such a substantial financial and organizational investment.
Sources:
- Fox News Digital. (2024). “DNC Finance Committee member Lindy Li discusses Harris campaign loss on Fox & Friends Weekend.” Retrieved from [Fox News].
- Wall Street Journal. (2024). “Analysis: The Democratic Party’s missteps in the 2024 election.”
