Ex-Dem Fundraiser Named to Trump Inaugural Committee as Donations Flow

FIRST ON FOX: Longtime Democratic fundraiser and critic of Kamala Harris, Lindy Li, was named to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fundraising committee this month, an opposition she says has drawn overwhelming support from donors. including some longtime associates To the Democratic Party competing for a seat at the table.

The lefty’s appointment to Trump’s fundraising committee was announced exclusively to Fox News Digital. It comes just weeks after Li announced her decision leave the Democratic Party last month, citing what she described as a wider culture of finger-pointing, acrimony and blame in the wake of the 2024 election.

Li herself has faced a barrage of criticism and calls to quit the party after criticizing certain spending decisions made by the Harris campaign, despite raising millions on her behalf and donating several buildings in the Philadelphia area to the campaign. She, in turn, expressed concern about the party leadership that “allows no dissent, no criticism” and does not learn from its heavy losses in the House of Representatives, Senate and presidential elections.

For Li, her departure from the DNC’s national fundraising committee was an eye-opener. In an interview with Fox News this week, she said she was approved as a member of Trump’s inaugural fundraising committee just three days before many events reached capacity, forcing the committee to block access, if only for a short time, in hopes of securing a larger venue.

When she told the donors that they were full, she noted, some responded by doubling their offer hoping to gain access.

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“The demand has just been unprecedented,” Li said of the donor response. “Honestly, Biden and Harris never had this problem. They never had to turn people away.”

Fox News Digital was told that donors who offered the inaugural committee as much as $1 million were turned away due to space constraints, as first reported by the New York Times. Since then, the inaugural committee has said it is working to find a larger location for some of the events to meet the intense and growing demand.

To date, Trump’s inaugural committee has raised a record $170 million in donations, with proceeds used to fund inauguration weekend and longer-term projects, such as the presidential library.

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For donors, their contribution earns them access to the inaugural weekend program of highly exclusive VIP events prior to the Inauguration Day ceremony, including intimate dinners, black-tie gala dinners and sit-downs with cabinet candidates. It is an opportunity for penetration and influence in the new administration.

And on the eve of Trump’s second term, many are giving big money to it.

Amazon CEO Jeff BezosMeta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are all among the tech executives who have announced in the past month that they plan to donate at least $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.

For Li, a prominent fundraiser whose background is largely rooted in the Democratic world, focusing on raising money for Trump’s inauguration was easier than expected.

Li previously served as a member DNC National Fundraising Committeea membership that requires raising “millions of dollars” on behalf of Democratic candidates.

Still, she said, the inaugural committee’s donations and the enthusiasm surrounding them seem unprecedented.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Li said in an interview about the fundraising, which could roughly triple the amount raised by Biden in 2021 and surpass Trump’s first inaugural committee, which raised roughly $117 million.

The committee expects donations to climb to more than $200 million, according to estimates shared with Fox News Digital.

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When asked if it was difficult to build a base of Republican donors less than a month after leaving the Democratic Party, Li told Fox News that she was dealing with many of the same financial donors.

“These are Democratic donors,” she said.

Although Li noted that they are not among the most liberal Democratic donors she has worked with, “They still donate,” she said.

“They’re still so eager and willing to come to the table.”

Many, she said, shared the belief that Trump was “great for business community” and we hope to build on that in future conversations with management.

Even donors who were waitlisted or turned away from attending VIP events during the inaugural weekend due to lack of space have expressed interest in working with the administration in the future.

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Just yesterday, she said, a donor remarked, “‘You know, even if we can’t, we can’t come this time, please tell us next time so we can show our support.'”

The reception overall has been “overwhelmingly positive,” Li said of the response from donors. “Enthusiasm is just through the stratosphere.”