Defeating the Extremists

"Women and our allies need to stay energized," says Lindy Li. "Our fight for justice is everyone’s fight for justice. They’re coming for you, too."

If you’re on social media, you’ve probably seen Lindy Li’s outspoken, outraged, often-viral—and often-memed—tweets.

If you watch a lot of MSNBC or CNN, you’ve likely seen her commenting on hot-button issues.

If you don’t already follow her, you can remedy that right now: https://twitter.com/lindyli.

To understand why she has become such an influential voice in Democratic politics, reaching millions through her activism, outreach and voter mobilization efforts, here’s a little more about her background:

After working for the CFO of Merck and then for Morgan Stanley investment banking, Lindy — endorsed by 18 Members of Congress — was the youngest female congressional candidate in U.S. history at age 25. In 2020, she successfully ran to be a DNC delegate for President-Elect Biden, garnering 108,556 votes from Philly alone, which was one of the state’s highest delegate vote totals. She served on Biden’s Asian American outreach team, focusing on her home state of Pennsylvania, helping to mobilize donors and supporters on behalf of Biden. In 2022, City & State PA named Lindy as one of the most powerful people under the age of 40 in Philadelphia.

Lindy is a political commentator for networks like MSNBC and CNN and hosts her own show on cable TV in the Philadelphia metropolitan area called “Listening with Lindy Li”. She is also the longest-serving female Class President in Princeton University's history, having been elected all four years while on campus and also reelected to a third five-year term as Alumni Class President in May 2022, for a total of 19 years. Through this capacity, she directly manages hundreds of thousands of dollars in alumni contributions and oversees hundreds of people.

At the Democratic National Committee, Lindy serves as Women’s Chair and Mid-Atlantic Chair for the DNC Ethnic Council, coordinating voter mobilization efforts across the Eastern seaboard. In addition, Lindy helps to manage her family’s tri-state real estate business. She helped to organize the first ever Asian American Heritage Month celebration on May 17th, 2022 in the White House with President Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. Along with the Mayor of Cincinnati, she is the Co-Chair of the $25 million Justice Unites Us SuperPAC, which is the largest PAC in the nation’s history focusing specifically on Asian American electoral turnout.

I interviewed Lindy here on Substack in September, 2021 about what the GOP war on reproductive freedom meant for women—and all who care about women’s healthcare, personal liberty, and the future direction of the country.

One year later—as the most important midterms in our lifetimes approach—I asked her to answer a few more questions by email.

Q&A with Lindy Li

How are you feeling personally about politics right now?

I’m feeling cautiously optimistic, given the fact that the heinous Dobbs ruling has really woken people up across the nation, especially my fellow women.

How much has the Dobbs decision changed the mood of women especially, but the country as a whole?

We realize that we can no longer take for granted that our sacred rights will remain intact. The Christo-Fascist Republican Party will not be satisfied until they have rolled back many long-cherished and fundamental rights, including those to contraception and interracial as well as gay marriage.

Will Democrats hold onto the House and the Senate? How close will it be? What still needs to happen? What could go wrong?

I think it’s going to be extremely close in the House. Thankfully, Trump-endorsed candidates like Blake Masters and Dr. Oz have largely floundered, making fools of themselves on the campaign trail on a daily basis. Women and our allies need to stay energized, in addition to realizing that our fight for justice is everyone’s fight for justice. They’re coming for you, too. We need to stay on the issue of Trump and reproductive rights and not allow them to hijack the message by making the midterms about immigration (see DeSantis’s human-trafficking of migrants to Martha's Vineyard).

As the midterms approach—and especially after Kansas went overwhelmingly pro-choice—Republicans are scrubbing their abortion stances from their websites and trying to present a more “moderate” face to voters. Will they fool anyone? Is it possible they get away with it?

Absolutely will not fool close followers of politics, though I fear that not everyone pays as close attention as you or me. I think most women are smart enough to know that these people are opportunistic, lying chameleons.

What does Lindsey Graham’s call for a national ban on abortion mean for the midterms?

He handed us a tremendous gift and reminded the nation how extremist Republicans are.

How optimistic are you that Democrats can win some of the key Governors’ races this cycle?

I’m in Pennsylvania so I’m closely watching Shapiro's race. Josh is a friend. I have strong confidence that he will pull this off. I’m also hopeful about Beto but the underlying structural issues in Texas are hard to overcome, through no fault of his own. Beto is an amazing candidate and leader.

What do people need to do in the final 8 weeks to help defeat Christo-Fascists and MAGA extremists in November?

Vote and encourage everyone and their aunt to vote. Vote early. Check on your ballot if you’re voting by mail. Everyone should grab at least 10 friends to the polls.

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