Self-help author and spiritual teacher Marianne Williamson announces her longstanding primary challenge to President Biden with a call to use love to “overcome the forces of hate” and take on a “sociopathic economic system”
- Williamson is the first Democrat to launch a campaign to challenge Biden
- Her self-help books earned her appearances on the Oprah Winfrey Show
- She denounced ‘crony capitalism’ and ‘a system of legalized bribery’
Self-help author and spiritual teacher Marianne Williamson launched her primary challenge to President Joe Biden in Washington on Saturday with a plan to get herself back on a presidential debate stage where she called for fighting Donald Trump with “love.”
Wearing a pink suit in a packed ballroom at an ornate ballroom in Washington, D.C.’s Union Station, Williamson called for “a vision of justice, of love so powerful it will overcome the forces of hatred, injustice and fear” .
“This country is drowning in information and hungry for understanding,” she said at the top of her remarks.
Williamson, 70, became a breakthrough figure and internet search subject with her unconventional performances during the 2020 presidential debates before being rejected based on polling criteria.
Now she is the first Democrat to announce she will challenge Biden in the primary, where her political message laced with her New Age spiritual message could be a headache for the 80-year-old party incumbent with low approval ratings.
“This is a campaign to win,” her advisor Mark Van Landuyt told DailyMail.com.
Self-help author and 2020 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson launched a primary challenge to President Joe Biden in Washington, D.C., on Saturday
“The fact that she will be alone on that podium with the sitting president will ensure that her voice and her vision will be heard more prominently,” she said.
But there will be opportunities for friction with party leaders who want President Biden to get through the process unscathed.
“We are going to do our very best, we hope that the dem party believes in democracy and believes in adding more votes, not taking votes away,” Van Landuyt said. He said Williamson was “very hopeful that the DNC will have robust dialogue and there will be no coronations.”
Williamson has written best-selling self-help books. Her first, “A Return to Love,” landed her on Oprah Winfrey’s show and made her famous.
In a January statement about her decision, she called for addressing “the economic injustices suffered by millions of Americans as a result of the influence of corporate money on our political system.”
It wasn’t yet clear how far she plans to go after Biden, whose approval numbers remain stuck in the low 40s. After competing against him, she supported Andrew Yang and then Bernie Sanders — before backing Biden in his run against President Donald Trump.
The Democratic National Committee this month announced its “full and complete support” for Biden.
Biden challengers will have a chance to exploit disagreements over the new primary calendar, where DNC, backed by Biden, moved to South Carolina to get ahead of the traditionally first in the nation of New Hampshire.
In 2020, Williamson provided much-discussed performances on the debate stage.
She gushed about “forgiveness” and “love” as the antidote to President Donald Trump, at a time when Democrats were desperate to replace him.