Lindy Li, a former Democratic fundraiser who changed her party affiliation after the 2024 election cycle, announced she will detail in an upcoming book what she says were private acknowledgments by top Democrats about President Joe Biden's cognitive decline that contradicted their public defenses of him. Li is publishing a book titled "Unburdened" later this year.
The claims add to existing reporting on internal Democratic deliberations during the 2024 campaign, when concerns about Biden's debate performance and mental acuity became a major topic after a June 2024 event in which he stumbled over his words, lost his train of thought at times, and spoke in a whisper that was difficult for some viewers to understand. Biden ultimately announced in July 2024 that he would not seek reelection.
What the Right Is Saying
Republicans have pointed to Li's account as validation of long-standing questions about whether Democratic leaders privately harbored doubts they did not express publicly for political reasons. The claims that figures like Schiff expressed private reservations while offering public support echo allegations made by various critics during and after the 2024 campaign.
Conservative commentators have argued that the accounts demonstrate a pattern of prioritizing political calculation over transparency with voters about a candidate's fitness for office. Li said she was particularly struck by leading party figures who voiced concerns behind closed doors but remained staunch defenders in public settings.
"They didn't want to get ostracized by the party," Li said, describing what she characterized as fear among Democrats about challenging Biden's political standing. "It is like the axiom: you come at the king; you better not miss."
What the Left Is Saying
Schiff's office pushed back on Li's characterization, noting that Schiff publicly expressed concerns about Biden after the June 2024 debate and subsequently called for Biden to step aside that same month. The spokesperson told Fox News Digital that "The Senator's concerns and call on President Biden to not run was very public, so none of this is news." Other Democrats have similarly argued that party figures responded appropriately once concerns became widely known after the debate.
Progressive voices have also noted that Li has since switched her party affiliation, suggesting her account may reflect current political positioning rather than neutral recollection. Some Democrats have pointed to Biden's decades of public service and his administration's policy accomplishments as context for why many in the party initially stood by him.
"He had decades of loyalty — his bond with people like James Clyburn," Li said in her interview, acknowledging what she described as a sense of devotion Biden inspired in longtime allies. "There is something about Joe Biden. He was incredibly kind."
What the Numbers Show
Li says her book will include internal polling data that she claims shows no potential primary challenger could defeat Biden within the party structure. "I have seen the polling data, and I also include that in my book — polling no one has seen before," she said. She also claimed to have polling data comparing Vice President Kamala Harris against other potential candidates including Pete Buttigieg, Gavin Newsom, Josh Shapiro, and Gretchen Whitmer conducted immediately before Harris became the Democratic nominee.
The specific figures from this internal polling are not yet publicly available, as Li says they will appear in her forthcoming book. Fox News has not independently verified these claims or reviewed the documents Li references.
The Bottom Line
Li's account adds a new dimension to reporting on internal Democratic deliberations during the 2024 campaign, though her credibility is complicated by her subsequent party switch and potential commercial incentive tied to her book's release. Her specific claims about text messages from Schiff may face scrutiny given that no documentation has been released publicly.
The book "Unburdened" is expected later this year and will likely generate additional attention regardless of verification status. Readers interested in these claims should await the book's publication for supporting documentation, if any is included.