By CHARLIE SPIERING, SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER, WASHINGTON, DC
Published: 11:21 EST, 3 December 2024 | Updated: 13:06 EST, 3 December 2024
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A top Democrat fundraiser revealed that Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi were not pleased with President Joe Biden‘s decision to endorse Kamala Harris after ending his reelection campaign.
Lindy Li reflected in an interview with NewsNation on the delicate primary power struggle that took place within the party as they grappled with Biden’s inability to successfully campaign for president.
‘It became clear that he was no longer able to effectively litigate the case against President Trump,’ Li said about Biden in an interview with host Natasha Zouves.
Li said she spoke with Pelosi before she publicly called for Biden to step down, as she was encouraging anyone who was concerned about Biden to voice their opinions on the matter.
She also said that both Pelosi and Obama did not want to endorse Harris for president, hoping instead for an open primary.
’Obama and Pelosi were both hoping for a primary instead of a coronation so to speak, Li said.
‘I know they didn’t. It’s not a matter of conjecture for me. I know they didn’t,’ she added, noting she was friends with people who worked for Obama.
Obama did not have a preferred candidate in the race, she said, but said he was looking at Sen. Mark Kelly from Arizona.
Barack Obama did not want Biden to endorse Harris, a Democratic fundraiser reveals
Democratic fundraiser Lindy Li revealed some of the dynamics behind the scenes of Kamala Harris’ devastating loss
Nancy Pelosi wanted to Joe Biden to step down, but was not pleased he endorsed Kamala Harris
Harris was not ruled out as a potential candidate, but they wanted some kind of process to select Biden’s successor.
‘A lot of people were hoping for a lighting round, a lightning primary,’ she said.
Li said the party was stunned when Biden endorsed Harris just a half an hour after he announced his decision to abandon his campaign.
‘I don’t think anyone saw that coming. We did not see that coming. I think a lot of people anticipated that he might have stepped aside, but no one anticipated a twofer that we got that day,’ she recalled.
Since Harris lost the election, Li has voiced her concern about the future of the party, and criticized Harris for her devastating loss against Trump.
‘It was just startling how there was no sense of responsibility. They essentially set $2 billion on fire in 100 days,’ she said.
Li criticized Harris’ unchecked spending on the campaign trail, warning that Democratic donors were furious for some of the reports of mismanaged spending that turned political consultants into ‘multi-millionaires.’
‘There’s a lot of conflict of interest here. And we need a careful accounting and probably more granular than the FEC report would offer,’ she said. ‘Because if we don’t do that, how are voters and donors ever going to trust the Democratic Party again?’
Li also criticized Harris in November for failing to strike the right tone after the campaign in a call with donors.
She said she was ‘stunned’ there was no post-mortem or lessons learned, and spent more time ‘patting each other on the back,’ despite deep debts left over from the campaign.
‘I believe at one moment in the call she was talking about her Thanksgiving recipe … I think I was stunned to hear that, given just the extent and brutality of the loss.’ she said.
