Former Democratic fundraiser Lindy Li is revealing new allegations about what was happening behind the scenes during the final days of President Joe Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign — including claims about how then-Vice President Kamala Harris interacted with some of the Democratic Party’s biggest donors.
Li, who previously helped raise money for both Biden and Harris, claims Harris was quietly positioning herself with influential donors shortly before Biden ended his reelection campaign.
At the same time, Harris was publicly standing behind Biden and insisting Democrats could still win with him at the top of the ticket.
Li now argues that there was more happening behind closed doors.
“It was all charade,” Li told Fox News Digital.
Li alleged that Harris was effectively preparing for the possibility of replacing Biden while carefully avoiding any public suggestion that she expected him to leave the race.
Her claims provide one former Democratic insider’s interpretation of one of the most chaotic periods of the 2024 presidential campaign. Harris has not publicly confirmed Li’s characterization of her intentions.
Former Democratic Fundraiser Speaks Out
Li had unusual access to Democratic political circles because of her fundraising work.
She raised money for Biden and Harris and previously held a prominent position within Democratic Party politics. Since the 2024 election, however, Li has become publicly critical of the party and has discussed what she says she witnessed behind the scenes.
Her latest allegations appear in her book, Unburdened, and in an interview with Fox News Digital.
According to Li, Democratic insiders had been confronting concerns about Biden’s candidacy well before he ultimately withdrew from the presidential race.
Those concerns exploded into public view following Biden’s June 2024 debate performance against Donald Trump.
Democratic lawmakers, donors and political strategists increasingly questioned whether Biden should remain the party’s nominee.
Harris, meanwhile, continued publicly supporting the president.
Harris Spoke With Major Democratic Donors
One of Li’s most significant allegations concerns Harris’s interactions with Democratic donors shortly before Biden withdrew.
Harris participated in a July 19, 2024, call with major Democratic donors as pressure on Biden intensified.
During that period, Harris publicly maintained that the Democratic ticket could prevail in November.
Li says she personally participated in the donor call and came away with a very different interpretation of what Harris was doing.
According to Li, Harris presented herself as firmly loyal to Biden while simultaneously building relationships with donors who could become critical to her own presidential campaign if Biden stepped aside.
“I was on the call,” Li told Fox News Digital.
Li alleged that Harris was “auditioning” for those donors even as she publicly supported the president.
That characterization is Li’s allegation and should not be confused with an independently established account of Harris’s private intentions.
Biden Was Under Enormous Pressure
The timing of the donor conversations is important.
By mid-July 2024, Biden’s campaign was facing an extraordinary political crisis.
His debate performance had triggered widespread concern within the Democratic Party, and a growing number of elected Democrats were publicly calling for him to end his campaign.
Money was becoming another problem.
Major Democratic donors were reconsidering their support, while questions about the president’s political future dominated Washington.
Harris nevertheless continued campaigning for the Biden-Harris ticket.
On July 20, she appeared at a Massachusetts fundraiser and argued that Democrats could still defeat Trump.
Then everything changed.
Biden Ends His Reelection Campaign
On July 21, 2024, Biden announced that he was ending his campaign for another term.
The announcement immediately transformed the presidential race.
Biden subsequently endorsed Harris, giving his vice president a major advantage as Democrats scrambled to determine who would replace him at the top of the ticket.
Li claims Harris wasted little time consolidating support.
According to Li, Harris launched an intensive outreach effort within Democratic circles during the first 24 hours following Biden’s announcement.
“She was flattering people left and right,” Li said.
Li described the effort as an aggressive political “charm offensive” designed to quickly secure support from important Democratic figures.
Whatever Harris’s private strategy had been before Biden’s announcement, her campaign moved remarkably quickly afterward.
Harris Sees Massive Fundraising Surge
Money began pouring into Harris’s political operation after Biden left the race and endorsed her.
Harris’s campaign reported tens of millions of dollars in contributions almost immediately, demonstrating how rapidly Democratic donors and grassroots supporters were shifting behind the new candidate.
The fundraising surge ultimately became one of the defining features of the early Harris campaign.
For Li, however, that rapid consolidation of financial and political support raised additional questions about what had been happening before Biden officially withdrew.
She argues that Harris had already spent valuable time communicating with donors who could become essential if the presidential nomination suddenly became available.
Again, that is Li’s interpretation of events rather than proof that Harris had secretly planned to replace Biden.
Li Says Donors Were Frustrated
Li also described what she says were private reactions from Democratic donors.
According to her account, some wealthy contributors communicated through private group chats and expressed frustration about the assurances they had received concerning Biden.
Li claims those donors believed they were being told Biden remained capable of continuing his campaign even as the political pressure surrounding him intensified.
“A lot of us have group chats,” Li said.
She recalled donors describing the situation as a “charade” and questioning why they had spent time hearing assurances about Biden shortly before he ultimately withdrew.
“It was insulting,” Li said.
Those private conversations have not been independently verified, and Li’s recollections represent her account of what participants were saying at the time.
What Is Known — And What Is Alleged
The distinction between documented events and Li’s allegations is important.
It is established that Harris remained publicly supportive of Biden as pressure mounted on him to leave the presidential race.
It is also established that Harris communicated with major Democratic donors shortly before Biden withdrew.
Biden announced the end of his reelection campaign on July 21 and endorsed Harris. Harris then moved rapidly to consolidate Democratic support and experienced an enormous fundraising surge.
What cannot be established simply from those events is Harris’s private motivation.
Li believes Harris understood where the situation was headed and was preparing herself for the possibility of becoming the Democratic nominee.
Her account offers one insider’s perspective, but it does not independently prove what Harris privately believed or intended.
The 2024 Democratic Drama Continues
More than two years after Biden’s dramatic decision, the final weeks of his presidential campaign continue to generate questions about what Democratic officials, donors and political operatives knew behind the scenes.
Li’s allegations add another chapter to that debate.
For voters, one of the central questions is not simply whether Harris was communicating with donors — something that was already publicly documented — but what those conversations represented.
Li portrays them as part of a calculated effort to prepare for Biden’s possible departure.
Others could view the same outreach as ordinary activity by a vice president attempting to reassure nervous supporters during a political crisis.
Without direct evidence establishing Harris’s private intentions, that distinction remains important.
What is clear is that events moved extraordinarily quickly.
Harris was publicly defending the Biden-Harris ticket in the days before Biden withdrew. Once he stepped aside and endorsed her, she rapidly secured political support and attracted a massive wave of campaign contributions.
Li’s new allegations are now providing another glimpse into the internal Democratic turmoil surrounding those historic days — and renewing scrutiny of what was happening behind closed doors before Biden made his decision.