Lindy Li

After college, Li worked as a financial analyst for Merck and Morgan Stanley.^[7][19]

In 2016, Li announced her intention to run in Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district Democratic primary.^[10] Fewer than 4 months before the primary, she shifted her preliminary candidacy to Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district, citing advice from party leaders.^[20] Li would ultimately withdraw her candidacy in April 2016 prior to the primary, after a court challenge as to the validity of her candidacy petition signatures.^[21][22]

In 2018, Li was a candidate in Pennsylvania's 5th congressional district Democratic primary.^[23] During this campaign, Li described herself as a "tree-hugging progressive" who supported the legalization of marijuana, a national jobs guarantee, and opposed foreign policy interventionism.^[24] She sought the endorsement of the Philadelphia chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and publicly praised Senator Bernie Sanders.^[25] Li lost the Democratic primary to Mary Gay Scanlon, placing sixth out of 10 candidates with 7.0% of the vote.^[26][27]

In February 2020, Li tweeted she had traveled to New York for an interview with Fox News “to discuss the dangers of socialism.”^[28] Later that same week she tweeted a two-minute excerpt of a 1988 press conference in which Sanders had complimented the Moscow Metro: "#BernieSanders lavishes praise on Communist Russia, preferring the Soviet Union to the American way of life”.^[29] Her tweet was again subsequently retweeted by prominent social media political personalities, raising Li’s public profile and exposing her to online criticism from Sanders supporters.^[29] She resigned from her volunteer role as treasurer of the Pennsylvania Young Democrats two days later, citing the incident as her impetus for doing so.^[28] Two days after her resignation, Fox News published Li's interview that had been recorded the week prior, entitled “My Socialism Nightmare”, in which Li further attacked Sanders and his supporters.^[30]

After the 2020 Super Tuesday primary elections, Li appeared on Al Jazeera to debate Sanders supporter Linda Sarsour concerning which Democrat would be best to defeat Donald Trump.^[31] During the interview, Li stated that she would not vote for Sanders if he became the Democratic nominee.^[32]

In 2022, Li was named as co-chair of the Justice Unites Us Super PAC, announced as a multi-million-dollar fund “to drive grassroots engagement in the Asian American community”.^[33][34] The PAC would raise only $1.3M in the 2022 election cycle before its termination.^[35][36] The PAC stirred controversy when its only independent expenditure was shown to be $846,000 to assist candidate Carrick Flynn, a white man, in a failed run for Oregon's 6th congressional district democratic primary.^[37] The PAC was later revealed to have been financed primarily by Protect Our Future, the Super PAC formed by then cryptocurrency entrepreneur, Sam Bankman-Fried.^[37]

In March 2023, on MS NOW, Li said, "Let's also not ignore the fact that CPAC has become a gathering of sexual predators. Let's be honest"^[38] and "Tonight, we have Trump, a serial rapist...So, this is the party that claims to be the party of Christian family values, and I have nothing to say or do but laugh at that!"^[38]

In August 2023, Li was named by then Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro to his Governor's Advisory Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Affairs.^[39] In 2022 and 2023, Li was named by City & State Pennsylvania to several local 'power lists'; Li served on the City and State 'power lists' advisory board during this time.^{[40][41][42][43]}

During the 2024 Presidential election cycle, Li worked as a fundraising bundler for the DNC, a role which resulted in Li being variously referred to as being a member of the Democratic National Finance Committee,^[44] "Women’s co-chair",^[45] and "Mid-Atlantic regional chair"^[46] during this time.

In August 2024, Wired magazine named Li one of the top influencers shaping the presidential election.^[47] Li attended the 2024 Democratic National Convention via one of over 200 approved social media influencer credentials; this was the first time such credentials were distributed.^[48][49]

Following the 2024 United States presidential election, Li transitioned from being a supporter to being a critic of the Democratic Party. Li described the campaign of former Vice President Kamala Harris as a "$1 billion disaster," saying that Democratic donors were misled by the campaign to believe "that this is an eminently winnable race".^[50] In an interview on America's Newsroom, Li intensified her criticism, saying "I lost tens of thousands of followers because I dared to tell the truth. Because in a cult, you can't tell the truth," and ridiculed the notion of Harris running for Governor of California in 2026.

In January 2025, Li told Fox Business "I've been a conservative all my life".^[51][52] In an interview on Fox News, Li made clear she would no longer be supporting the Democratic Party stating that "leaving the Democratic Party or even questioning the Democratic Party is like leaving a cult. It's terrifying. I don't want to be a part of this craziness anymore." Li also expressed support for Pete Hegseth, Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense.^[53][54][55] Li announced she was raising money for Trump and Republicans, despite her previously sharp criticism of Trump.^[56]

In May 2025, Li joined the female-led YouTube talk show, Her Take, featuring Ana Kasparian and Jillian Michaels.^[57][5]

Li lives in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood of Philadelphia.^[58]