(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign exploited Beyoncé, Bad Bunny and Taylor Swift to draw large crowds to what otherwise would have been low-attendance rallies ahead of the 2024 election, a former major DNC fundraiser alleged in a new book.
Lindy Li, a former DNC fundraiser who reportedly raised millions for Joe Biden and Harris, specifically called out what she described as the Harris campaign’s use of celebrities to generate excitement and draw supporters to political rallies.
“Team Harris wielded celebrities as crowd-wrangling bait, a tacit admission,” Li wrote in Unburdened: A Former Democrat Insider’s Shocking Account of Political Power, Betrayal, and Party Collapse.
The book, from publisher Harper, is set to be released on Sept. 22.
Li’s book began with the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where false rumors spread online that Beyoncé would perform on Aug. 22.
“Beyoncé will perform on the final night of the convention! Just kidding — that was just a lie to pack the stadium for Kamala’s acceptance speech,” Li wrote in the book, according to an excerpt published by the New York Post.
How Kamala Harris' campaign lied about Beyonce, Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny to attract and exploit crowds https://t.co/A1iDupktnP pic.twitter.com/qtTwd8HOAv
— New York Post (@nypost) September 16, 2026
Li said the rumors left supporters upset after Beyoncé failed to appear.
She wrote, “Older Americans may not comprehend the power this pop demigod wields over the liberal faithful, but by willfully fanning the flames of the wildfire rumors, they effectively swore to the surging throngs — chiefly younger voters, an indispensable electoral force — that Queen Bey would serenade the masses. When she didn’t, the betrayal clanged with cataclysmic force, raw, ruthless, and ragingly ruinous. Harris face-planted before the very voters she needed most.”
Li wrote that the Harris campaign again used the rumors that Beyoncé would perform at a Houston rally to draw people into the crowd.
While Beyoncé did appear at the rally on Oct. 25, she did not perform any songs but instead delivered a short speech to introduce Harris.
“Less than two weeks ahead of the election, they once again dangled Beyoncé like forbidden fruit, only to snatch it away a second time, igniting a righteous rage that rippled through the ranks,” Li added. “Queen Bey, loved for her anthems, not her analyses, gave a speech that no one wanted.”
NEW: Kamala Harris' highly anticipated rally in Houston, Texas was a complete disaster as some attendees fumed that Beyonce didn’t perform.
Harris failed to control the rowdy crowd as boos and shouting drowned her out on multiple occasions.
Some in the crowd were reportedly… pic.twitter.com/IXioDq7UfK
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 26, 2024
According to Li, the campaign used a similar deceitful tactic for Harris’ final rally before election day. This time, however, they reportedly benefited from rumors that Swift or Bad Bunny would appear. Instead, Katy Perry, a pop singer, ended up performing at a pre-election rally.
“They dangled Taylor, Beyoncé, and Bad Bunny overhead like manna, luring thirty thousand shivering masochists onto frozen concrete, and the internet flambéed itself in a frenzy of speculation,” Li wrote.
“By the time Katy bounced out waving a sparkler nobody wanted, the footage was already cut, the headlines were locked, and the dopamine had been strip-mined. But instead of a single villain, there was a syndicate of deceit, each pocketing a succulent slice of the scam,” Li closed off.
🇺🇸 Holy Crap Katy Perry sounds absolutely terrible at Kamala Harris rally
Completely tone deaf – two cup sizes smaller & she’d literally be a nobody. pic.twitter.com/fGLgRvRZjl
— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) November 5, 2024
