Ex-Dem fundraiser traces socialist surge to Biden-era leadership vacuum: ‘There’s no one there’
Lindy Li, a former Democratic fundraiser who left the party after her warnings about then-President Joe Biden’s decline went unheeded during the 2024 campaign, says Democrats’ leadership vacuum has helped fuel the Democratic Socialists of America’s string of victories in 2026.
"They’re a metastasizing cancer," Li told Fox News Digital in an interview.
"I had a bird’s-eye view from the beginning, you know, [to] the ascent of the DSA — power abhors a vacuum. They’re simply filling a vacuum. There’s no one there."
According to Li, the DSA has pressured candidates for years to push their platforms further and further left — a process she said she experienced firsthand when, in 2018, she tried to run for Congress herself. Li, who is publishing a new book titled "Unburdened" later this year, believes it’s one of the many layers of how the DSA and socialists have emerged as a force to be reckoned with within the Democratic Party in 2026.
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In her own experience, the DSA’s pressure came in the form of a questionnaire.
"These over-educated bums, which populated the DSA — that's what they are — basically forced me to adopt its platform by handing me a questionnaire and saying, ‘everyone in this congressional race must fill out this questionnaire,’" Li recalled.
At the time, in 2018, Li said she felt like she didn’t have a choice but to fill out the form and didn’t expect the answers to stick with her. She was running for Pennsylvania’s 5th Congressional District.
"That's what they do. I don't know if Americans are familiar with that, but that's how they enforce compliance. They hand you these candidate questionnaires, you fill it out, and so your name is forever attached. It even made it to my Wikipedia page. So now on my Wikipedia page it has me as some tree-hugging, marijuana-supporting whatever. I said none of that. They just grabbed it from the questionnaire," Li said.
She recalled that other candidates in the field also filled out the form.
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When asked if she was surprised that more DSA candidates had enjoyed success even against incumbent opponents, Li pointed to the state of the establishment and a clear lack of momentum among its more veteran figures.
"Think about it, at this point in time, in the election cycle, in 2006, we knew who the candidate was likely going to be, Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton," Li said.
"Barack Obama had already given his ‘There's no blue state, there's no red state, there's only United States of America’ speech. We knew he was gonna be a presidential candidate. Who's the candidate this time? We don't know."
Li also pointed an accusatory finger at Ken Martin, the chair of the Democratic Party. In her view, the DSA looks stronger in light of its competition.
"We need a Democratic leader who is unforgettable, dynamic, vigorous, who can launch a compelling argument to the American people. Instead, we have this milquetoast man, who nobody remembers."
"Keep in mind that the Democratic Party right now is so broke they put up their own headquarters up as collateral because they took out a loan. They're broke. They have no money. Ken Martin is a joke," she added.
Reporting from Fox News Digital confirmed in July that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) used its building to secure a $15 million loan, according to public records. Although the base agreement of the loan is for $15 million, the inclusion of the building allows the group to withdraw an extra $5 million. The DNC also has accumulated almost $18.5 million in debt as of June 30, campaign finance records show.
Although she now considers herself a conservative, Li noted that, even in her time as a Democrat, she had sounded the alarm about the DSA, believing they were eating the party from the inside out.
"I did a Fox News documentary in 2020 warning against the DSA; I kid you not. I kid you not, these people have been poisonous for a very long time," Li said.