Everyone loves a convert to their cause, and many on the right are embracing former Democratic National Committee fundraiser Lindy Li.
Everyone loves a convert to their cause, and so it’s no surprise that a lot of figures on the right are warmly welcoming and embracing former Democratic National Committee fundraiser Lindy Li, who has turned against her former party with a vengeance.
It’s a free country, and everyone is free to change their minds. You might even say that’s what political debate is all about, attempting to persuade others to join your cause.
But a lot of what Li is saying now, about what she saw, heard and experienced among Democrats during the Biden presidency, does not align with what she said at the time. In fact, in some cases, it is contradictory.
Here’s Li, appearing on Shawn Ryan’s podcast last week, discussing Biden’s presidency:
Ryan: So, who was running it? Who are the names?
Li: [Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff] Steve Ricchetti, his senior adviser. Anita Dunn. Mike Donilon. [Former White House chief of staff] Ron Klain, [former White House chief of staff] Jeff Zients. [Former White House counsel] Bob Bower, his personal lawyer, who’s actually his personal lawyer, who actually leased a book basically grifting off his relationship with the Bidens. I’m going to get in so trouble for saying all this. Please give me credit for — but these are the people who ran our country for the last four years.
Li continued:
They were leeching off the Biden name for decades, and all of them realized that they would never work for another president. So, they had to ride the gravy train all the way through, you know, ride it to the very end. And that’s why all of them refused to concede the truth which is that Biden is unfit, and he would have been comatose by the time he was 86.
She also describes her true reaction to watching the Bidens after the presidential debate:
Jill takes Joe by the hand on stage and she’s like, ‘Joe, you knew all the facts! You answered all the questions!’ and you know that hand gesture that she does. And I’m thinking, ‘you’re treating him like a first grader.’ You shouldn’t applaud him for doing the basics! And you could just tell that she was fighting for dear life to hold on to the vestige of power. And just a few days later, she was on the cover of Vogue, so the whole thing was a Jill Biden show.
Later in the conversation, she added:
After the debate, Hunter [Biden] basically commandeered the White House. He sat in on all the White House top level meetings. You had a former cocaine addict sitting in on the most sensitive meetings of the most consequential and important government in world history. Does that sit right with you? Without security clearance mind you, no security clearance! That’s who was basically running the show! So Hunter basically battened down the hatches after the debate, to make sure that his father would only receive intel that he pre-approved.
Li adds, “I think as Joe got older, he — maybe you think I’m naive in saying this — but I’m not even sure if he remembers all of the corruption that he engaged in.”
My guess is this description of the Biden, the first lady, his advisors and a White House staff covering up the president’s condition is not a shock to you. A lot of conservatives observed that Biden appeared doddering and confused, and that he was highly dependent upon his staff. And NBC News and other outlets, including National Review, reported on the strangely central role Hunter Biden played in his father’s White House, particularly after the debate.
Li’s assessment on that recent podcast probably aligns with your impressions of the Bidens. But that was not the impression you would get from Li’s public appearances or social media feed during the last presidential campaign.
From her public comments, Li appeared to be an enthusiastic supporter of President Biden and utterly convinced he deserved a second term. In May, Li described meeting the president and how her “heart burst.”
Perhaps most troublingly, on June 27 Li posted, “I was with President Biden a few minutes after the debate tonight. Here we are at his watch party. He was amazing and kind as he always is, remembering tiny details about me and my family. I don’t care what the pundits say about this great man — I will always be Team Biden.”
I don’t know, if you feel like the First Lady is treating the president like a first grader, why are you telling everyone how great the president’s memory is?
On July 19, Li made an appearance on Sky News declaring, “if you look at his legislative record, President Biden has been phenomenal,” and she posted on X, “Biden is the MOST successful President of my lifetime. His legislative record is unparalleled. He is a fundamentally good and decent man — I sincerely believe that.”
On July 21, Biden announced he would not seek another term. That day, Li posted on X, “He has changed my life in countless ways and guided our country out of one of the darkest chapters I’m so proud of him. He is one of the greatest Presidents in our nation’s history. Supporting him was the honor of my life.”
You can dismiss much of this as garden-variety kind words to ease the president’s departure from the race.
But Li kept going. On July 24, she posted, “I have nothing but immense love and respect for this honorable, kind, wise, compassionate, fundamentally good man.” On July 25, Li described how she cried when Biden’s campaign sent her a thank you gift before he dropped out.
Again, everyone is entitled to change their minds. But in a about six months, Li has gone from calling Biden “amazing,” “fundamentally good and decent,” “honorable, kind, wise, compassionate” and “one of the greatest Presidents in our nation’s history” to calling him incapable of running the country, unfit for duty, answering debate questions like a first-grader and corrupt. That’s a really sweeping change in a short period of time.
This morning, Li posted, “I just wanna cry and cry and cry. The pain is so intense, as I watch people shamelessly defame me. My entire body hurts and my arms are numb. Never planned for any of this to happen. Just wanted to tell the truth.”
Mean criticism online sucks, and I sympathize with Li. But I think it is more than fair, and certainly not defamatory, to contrast Li’s effusive praise for the Bidens last year, and her current scathing criticism of them and his administration, and wonder how much her remarks are tailored to appeal to the audience in front of her. Did she really believe what she was saying then? And if not, how much should anyone trust her now?