I was fully indoctrinated into the Democrat ‘cult.’ Here’s why I left my liberal influencer life behind to raise money for Trump

A former energetic Democratic fundraiser, failed congressional candidate and social media influencer is now raising money for President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural committee.

Lindy Li made a shocking 180 after an extraordinary journey through a crazy year in Democratic politics, culminating in Kamala Harris’ historic loss to Donald Trump.

“It was one of the most painful and rewarding moments of my life,” Li told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.

During the 2024 elections, Lindy was considered a consummate Democratic influencer, combined with her ability to raise money for the Democratic Party.

She was invited to participate in events with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and First Lady Jill Biden, and she championed them all on her social media platform.

Mentioned by WIRED magazine as one of the key influencers of the 2024 elections, Li was invited to the Democratic National Committee as an officially certified influencer last August and given access to events.

On TV, she celebrated Biden’s vitality, Kamala Harris’ political strengths and condemned Trump’s racism and the overall toxicity of the MAGA movement.

At the final Kamala Harris campaign rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Li sat in the front row with prominent figures and Biden’s daughter Ashley and others to cheer on Harris as the historic first female president of the United States.

But that all came crashing down on Election Day, when Harris lost badly and it was clear that Democrats had seriously overestimated their chances of beating Donald Trump.

That infuriated Li, who had invested a lot of personal time and energy in the campaign.

She was outraged that Democrats had told her and others for months that Harris would easily win the election and encouraged them to raise more money and work harder. Disappointed, she explained that she realized that the top leaders of the Democratic Party were just “lying” to her all along.

That inspired her to publicly criticize the campaign for its apparent failures and outrage over how Democrats spent her and her fellow donors’ money.

She was angry, but still a Democrat who wanted to express her criticism and frustration for the party.

‘It was just startling that there was no sense of responsibility. They basically burned $2 billion in 100 days,” she said in a post-election interview with NewsNation.

Li’s criticism of the party after the election was a huge change in her life, but she did not expect it to change her political identity.

Born in China, she moved to America at the age of four and attended Princeton. She described herself as a “bookworm” and a “wallflower” who studied philosophy, advocated for issues like climate change and even ran and won an unlikely campaign for class president.

After college, she took a job at Morgan Stanley but continued to pursue her dream of running for political office. She worked enthusiastically for decades to boost Democrats, interning for former Congressman Joe Sestak and even running unsuccessfully for Congress at the age of 25.

In many ways, Lindy Li could have been the next rising political star in the Democratic Party. A Chinese immigrant, whose great-grandfather was murdered by communists, emerged as an inspirational figure who believed in the promise of America. But every attempt to run for office ended in Pennsylvania establishment figures crushing her political aspirations.

She continued as a fundraiser and media personality, trashing Trump and his MAGA movement at every opportunity.

In March 2013, Li described Trump as a “serial rapist” and that the Conservative Political Action Conference was “a gathering of sexual predators.” Any criticism of the “woke” Democratic Party, she insisted, was just an excuse for Republicans to be “anti-black.”

But when Kamala Harris lost, Li turned her criticism to the failed political consultants within the Democratic Party.

Her criticism was not well received by the wounded community of Democratic influencers, who had sat alongside her at the same events with Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and White House officials.

‘All I did was tell the truth. That’s literally all I did, all I did was tell it like it was,” she thought.

Li predictably flooded her social media accounts with accusations that she was a Chinese spy, a traitor and a barrage of racist and sexist comments from angry followers.

“The Chinese Communist Party killed my great-grandfather and that’s why we left the country, give me a break…for someone to say something so heinous just shows that the Democratic Party’s racism was always there. she said.

Despite her love for the Democratic party, Li was not a socialist, as she had participated in Fox News documentary in 2020, she revealed her distaste for communist China and a warning to supporters of committed democratic socialist Senator Bernie Sanders.

The Republicans took notice and saw an opportunity to recruit a disgruntled Democrat to the Trump team.

Prominent Republicans put Li in touch with Trump’s son Eric, who referred her to RNC officials and Trump transition organizers.

Now she’s doing the unthinkable: raising money for the president-elect she fought against for nearly a decade.

Li estimated to DailyMail.com that she had raised money in the six-figure range for the Trump transition team in the short time since she started asking for donations. Trump’s transition team did not respond to a request for comment.

Republicans, Li said, accepted her with open arms and even invited her to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club for year-end fundraisers and festivities. She did not go to Mar-a-Lago, but was touched by the warm welcome that Trump supporters wanted to give her.

Li told Democrats she “fought tooth and nail” to be recognized. Republicans, she said, were much more welcoming.

“It’s like night and day,” she said, citing daily messages from Republicans on the committee.

Many Democrats are outraged by her betrayal, but Li claims they made a mistake by not recognizing their failures and accepting criticism.

‘They would rather destroy the critics than accept that the party may have done something wrong. It is more convenient to blame me,” she said.

Li says her family and lost friends accept her change in identity, but the influencers she spent time with during the election are now out to destroy her.

“My real friends are all supportive, but my political friends, it’s just been really bad. It’s a cult. The way they treated me is difficult,” she said.

She is also quietly recruiting former DNC donors on Trump’s behalf, as many in her community are already looking beyond the Democratic Party.

“I’m not the only donor, I’m just the only one who is a public figure and is willing to speak out, everyone else is afraid for their own necks,” she said.

Trump’s reelection represented a shift, she argued, as more Americans were willing to give him a chance.

“I think people are tired of the ‘Oh Trump is really bad, we’re going to hate everything he does beforehand,'” she explained. “I think it’s dead.”

Once a prominent Democratic figure, Li is preparing for the inauguration of the man she worked for months to defeat.

For now, she’s grateful that Republicans who support Trump have welcomed her into their party.

“With me they are so much more human,” she explained. “The DNC was so mercenary that it felt like everyone had dollar signs in their eyes. They treated me like a wallet, it was just so disgusting and disgusting.”