Self-help guru Marianne Williamson officially launched her long-shot presidential bid Saturday — and was quickly blasted by Democrat operatives.
“We know that this country is plagued by many challenges now, not the least of which is hatred and division which is greater than any of us have experienced in our national life,” the Democrat told a crowd of more than 600 at her kickoff event inside Washington DC’s Union Station.
“And it is our job to create a vision of justice and love that is so powerful that it will override the forces of hatred and injustice and fear.”
Williamson’s stab at the 2024 Democratic nomination is her second run — she dropped out of the 2020 race before the Iowa caucuses despite her gaining popularity for accusing former President Donald Trump of conjuring up a “dark psychic force” in the US.
Williamson is now the first Democrat to formally challenge President Biden, who has yet to formally announce his own re-election campaign as recent polls indicate 68% of voters believe he’s too old for a second term.
Democratic leaders were quick to rebuke Williamson’s campaign, with some calling her efforts a “joke.”
“I don’t consider Marianne Williamson to be much of a threat,” political commentator Lindy Li told MSNBC. “I think the best way to handle her is to not address her at all.”
Steve Morris, a senior producer at Recount Media, said Williamson’s announcement was “really quite compelling,” before adding: “I do get that this is how people fall into cults.”
“Let’s be clear: Marianne Williamson is a joke. She’s a fundamentally unserious candidate running as a stunt to sell her books,” said Santiago Mayer, the founder and executive director of Voters of Tomorrow.
Williamson, whose red, blue and black campaign signs feature the dual slogans “A New Beginning” and “Disrupt the System,” complained that people haven’t been taking her nomination seriously.
“I have run for president before. I am not naïve about these forces which have no intention of allowing anyone into this conversation who does not align with their predetermined agenda,” she said.
“I understand that, in their mind, only people who previously have been entrenched in the car that brought us into this ditch can possibly be considered qualified to bring us out of it.”
The bestselling author didn’t mention Biden by name, but insinuated he isn’t accomplishing as much for the US as possible — she noted Trump’s re-election failure kept the country from going “over the cliff,” she also said it was still “six inches” from doing so.
Williamson made headlines during her last presidential run for championing issues that included a “Department of Peace” and doling out $100 billion in reparations.
She said last month she was incorrectly cast as “the crystal lady.”
Williamson said she was opposing a free market “mindset” and corrupt political system that she said prioritized greed above all else “like an atomizer spray of economic injustice.”