曾为民主党筹款的琳迪·李在2024年选举期间,因总统乔·拜登衰退的明显迹象未获重视而改变党派立场。她认为,民主党把筹款资源花错了地方,误导了捐款人,还奖赏了那些粉饰拜登形象的党内干将。
Lindy Li, a former Democratic fundraiser who switched her party affiliation over unheeded warning signs of President Joe Biden’s decline in the 2024 election, believes the party badly misallocated its fundraising, misled donors and rewarded party operatives who propped up Biden’s image.
“这就是交易:‘维持这个显而易见的谎言,以此换取接近他的机会。’”李在接受福克斯新闻数字频道的独家采访时回忆道。她所说的是有关拜登并未出现认知能力下降的说法。“谁在维持这个谎言,谁在鼓吹这个谎言时最卖力,谁就能获得最多接近拜登的机会。凡是试图推翻这种说法或胆敢提出质疑的人,接近他的机会很快就会减少。”但在开始质疑拜登是否还有体力再任四年总统后,李自己便彻底失去了接近他的机会。不过,在离开民主党之前,李已经成为党内核心干将。如今,她正在新书《卸下重担》中记录拜登退出竞选前的那几个月。她的披露包括时任副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯如何处理那笔创纪录的十亿美元竞选资金。南希·佩洛西否认知悉拜登衰退,称知情者“本应采取行动”首先,李认为,相关数字本身并不像外界看到的那样。“我真心认为,这就是一个传销骗局。”李说。
"It was: ‘maintain this very obvious lie in return for access,’" Li recalled in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, referring to assertions that Biden was not experiencing cognitive decline. "And whoever maintained, whoever was most strident in propounding that lie got the most access. And whoever subverted it or dared to ask questions would see their access quickly diminish." Li herself would find her access completely cut off after she began questioning Biden’s physical ability to serve another four years as president. But before leaving, Li became a top operative and is now chronicling the months leading up to Biden's withdrawal from the race in her new book, "Unburdened." Her revelations include what then-Vice President Kamala Harris did with a historic, billion-dollar war chest. NANCY PELOSI DENIES KNOWING ABOUT BIDEN'S DECLINE, CLAIMS THOSE WHO KNEW 'SHOULD HAVE ACTED' For starters, Li believes that the numbers themselves weren’t what they appeared to be from the outside.
她解释道,筹款人员有时会互相抢功。在某些情况下,顶级招募人员实际上可以把下属完成的业绩重复计算在自己头上。
"I sincerely believe it's a pyramid scheme," Li said. She explained how fundraisers would sometimes take credit for each other’s work. In some cases, top recruiters could effectively double-dip on work that their subordinates had done.
“当你招募到一个人时,你可以把对方筹得的款项中最多25万美元算作自己的业绩。”李说。
"When you recruit somebody, you can claim up to $250,000 of what they raise," Li said.
事实上,你可以挖走其他人的捐赠者并转移资金。这就是为什么有些人甚至没有真正筹到什么钱,却能达到类似1000万美元的数额。这就像是会计把戏和阴谋诡计,而不是真正的资金。我知道有人被重复计算了。"作为拜登和哈里斯的顶级筹款人,李与顶级捐赠者、党内知名人士以及民主党全国委员会(DNC)保持着密切合作。李描述了自己是如何亲历党内许多开支决策的。
"In fact, you could poach other people's donors and move money around. And that is how some people reach like $10 million without actually raising a thing. It's like accounting gimmicks and machinations rather than real money. I know there were people who were double counted." As a top fundraiser for both Biden and Harris, Li worked closely with top donors, high-profile members of the party and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Li described how she had a front-row seat for many of the party’s spending decisions.
李回忆说,哈里斯竞选团队的大部分开支都流向了四家大型媒体承包公司。李表示,这些承包商收取了巨额费用,获得了超过五亿美元的资金。她的书中列出的公司包括Media Buying & Analytics、Gambit Strategies、Bully Pulpit Interactive和Dupont Circle Strategies。
Li recounted that most of the Harris campaign's spending went through four large media contracting companies. These contractors, Li said, collected enormous fees and received over half a billion dollars. The companies that were listed in her book included Media Buying & Analytics, Gambit Strategies, Bully Pulpit Interactive and Dupont Circle Strategies.
卡维尔痛批民主党2024年复盘报告,称哈里斯竞选团队是“历史上花掉20亿美元却最无效的竞选”李写道:“这股资金巨浪约占竞选团队最后几天支出的70%,让一小撮背景深厚的顾问赚得盆满钵满,而更广泛的竞选工作却走向了崩溃。”
CARVILLE SHREDS DEMS' 2024 AUTOPSY, SAYS HARRIS CAMPAIGN WAS 'MOST INEFFECTIVE $2 BILLION EVER SPENT' "This tsunami of money represented about 70 percent of the campaign’s expenditures in the final days, enriching a handful of well-connected consultants while the broader effort collapsed," Li wrote. terviews with Fox, Li described how the payments to the firms came partially as off-the-top fees.
在接受福克斯新闻采访时,李描述了这些公司如何部分通过预扣费的形式获得款项。"筹集到的绝大部分资金都投入到了电视广告中。所以……你知道的,人们都在谈论‘给大人物留10%’。好吧,但实际上我认为更大的骗局是给这些媒体人的15%巨额回扣。他们从数亿美元中拿走15%,整整15个百分点。你可以自己算算账,"李说道。"顾问们拿走了钱,这些由竞选团队雇用的顾问是候选人的朋友,或者是珍·奥马利-狄龙的朋友。这是一个非常裙带关系的过程,"李在谈到哈里斯竞选团队主席时说道。
"The vast majority of the money raised went into TV ads. And so... You know, people talk about 10% for the big guy. Okay, but I actually think the bigger grift is 15% for the big grift for these media people. They get 15%, 15 points off of hundreds of millions of dollars. You can do the math," Li said. "The consultants get the money, the consultants that are hired by the campaign, and they're friends of the candidate or friends of Jen O’Malley-Dillon. It's a very incestuous process," Li said, referring to the Harris campaign chair. In addition to the media companies and the lucrative contracts they paid out, Li believes that the party focused too much on expenses that didn’t advance the campaign while, in her view, neglecting strategic opportunities.
除了媒体公司及其获得的丰厚合同外,李女士认为,该党过分关注那些无助于推进竞选活动的开支,而在她看来,却忽视了战略机遇。
"$350,000 a night slapping her face in the Las Vegas sphere, spending that money on Gulfstream so they wouldn't have to fly commercial, spending it on Ritz-Carlton hotels. I mean, that definitely happened because the National Finance Committee was hosting its final meeting there. Spending its money on tote bags," Li said.
“在拉斯维加斯球形剧院每晚花费35万美元打广告,花钱包湾流公务机以免乘坐商业航班,花钱住丽思卡尔顿酒店。我是说,这肯定发生了,因为全国财委在那里召开最后一次会议。还花钱买帆布袋,”李女士说。
"$350,000 a night slapping her face in the Las Vegas sphere, spending that money on Gulfstream so they wouldn't have to fly commercial, spending it on Ritz-Carlton hotels. I mean, that definitely happened because the National Finance Committee was hosting its final meeting there. Spending its money on tote bags," Li said.
“在费城可没这些事,”她补充道,指的是宾夕法尼亚州这个关键选举中心——该州曾被预测为2024年通往胜利的关键路径。
"None of that in Philadelphia," she added, referring to the critical electoral center in Pennsylvania — a state that had been projected to be a pathway to victory in 2024.
哈里斯支持公布民主党全国委员会2024年大选“尸检报告”,尽管领导层试图压制报告 让李女士震惊的部分原因在于,该党对她帮忙筹集的资金挥霍得如此厚颜无耻。她对该党向选民传递的信息也表示难以置信,那些选民贡献辛苦钱是希望“拯救民主”,这是拜登用来说服选民支持他而非特朗普的口号。
HARRIS BACKS RELEASING DNC'S 2024 ELECTION AUTOPSY DESPITE LEADERSHIP BURYING REPORT Part of what shocked Li was how brazen the party had been with the money she helped raise. She also expressed disbelief at the message the party spun to voters who had contributed their earnings in hopes of "saving democracy," a refrain Biden used to convince voters to side with him over President Donald Trump.
“有人掏出了毕生积蓄。人们为了拯救国家的希望而变卖储蓄。他们确实这么做了,我真心认为,他们在七周内捐赠了25亿美元,与其说主要是因为哈里斯作为候选人的实力,不如说是因为他们对特朗普的仇恨和恐惧,”李女士说。“大家心知肚明,大家都配合演出。”
"Some people forked over their life savings. Like people were liquidating their savings on the hope that they were saving the country. They absolutely did, and I truly believe that they donated $2.5 billion over seven weeks, not so much primarily because of Kamala's strength as a candidate, but rather their hatred for Trump and their fear of Trump," Li said. "Everyone knew, everyone played along."