Marianne Williamson Drops Out Of Democratic Presidential Primary
Author and self-help guru Marianne Williamson officially ended her 2020 Democratic presidential campaign on Friday, CNN reports. The news comes after the outsider candidate continued to struggle to gain support in the crowded Democratic field and recent reports revealed that she had laid off her campaign staff.
“I stayed in the race to take advantage of every possible opportunity to share our message,” Williamson wrote in a message to supporters. “With caucuses and primaries now about to begin, however, we will not be able to garner enough votes in the election to elevate our conversation any more than it is now,” a statement from Williamson said.
Williamson added that she didn’t want to hinder the chances of a progressive candidate winning and pledged to support the eventual Democratic nominee.
The 67-year-old spiritual leader ran on a platform that aimed to bring a “moral and spiritual awakening” to America. One of her most notable policy proposals was her call for at least $100 billion — and as much as $500 billion — in reparations for the descendants of slaves. She also drew attention during her first debate appearance when she said that President Donald Trump was tapping into a “dark psychic force of collectivized hatred” that could not be combated by policy discussions, The Independent reported at the time.
Marianne Williamson announces she is out of race in an email to supporters this morning. pic.twitter.com/W7QfxbhdSe
— Sam Kestenbaum (@skestenbaum) January 10, 2020
During an October interview with Fox News, Williamson expressed her distaste for the Democratic National Committee and the primary process as a whole. She also discussed her belief that there are two “political universes” with regard to judging the success of a presidential campaign.
“One is the pundits and the polls and the money and all of that. And then there’s another political universe and that’s what happens when candidates are out there in the primary states, just talking to people about our country and about what matters.”
At one point during Williamson’s campaign, she suggested that there was a strategic effort to smear her. Many of Williamson’s past comments — such as questionable claims about AIDs and opposition to vaccination — were used to question her fitness for the presidency. Amid this criticism, Williamson revealed that she felt conservatives had been more respectful to her than liberals during her presidential run.
Now out of the race, Williamson has expressed her desire to follow in the footsteps of Democratic presidential candidates Andrew Yang, Bernie Sanders, and Tulsi Gabbard by making an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience. The episodes featuring the Democratic presidential candidates were great successes with no less than 3 million views, with Sanders’ appearance currently just shy of 11 million views. However, it remains to be seen if Williamson will appear on the podcast.
