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Self-help author and spiritual teacher Marianne Williamson launched her primary challenge to President Joe Biden in Washington Saturday with a call for using love to ‘override the forces of hatred and injustice and fear.’
Williamson delivered a fiery speech before hundreds of supporters, where she attacked poverty and what she called a ‘system of legalized bribery’ – but avoided direct shots at Biden, who she ran against but ultimately endorsed in 2020.
She alluded to a plan to get herself back on the presidential debate stage, where four years ago she called for battling Donald Trump with ‘love.’
Sporting a pink suit in an ornate ballroom inside Washington, D.C.’s Union Station, Williamson referenced the Civil Rights movement, the Civil War, and the founding of the republic – even while railing against powerful economic forces she said overlooked poverty.
She did inveigh against an establishment she described as determined to keep her out of the national debate, in a race where many prominent figures are clearing the field for Biden despite his relatively low popularity and advanced age.
Self-help author and 2020 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson launched a primary challenge to President Joe Biden in Washington, DC on Saturday
‘I am not naïve about the forces which have no intention to let anyone into this conversation who does not align with their predetermined agenda,’ Williamson said, in a speech where she did not take directly attack Biden, whom she ultimately endorsed in 2020.
She took on the so-called ‘adults in the room’ in the national system whom she said wanted others to ‘sit down and let them run things’ – a reference to her own non-traditional resume for high political office.
The she delivered one of her many applause lines that go her crowd of supporters going. ‘A real grownup does not knowingly allow a child to grow hungry,’ she intoned.
‘This country is drowning in information and starving for understanding,’ she said at the top of her remarks.
She raced through many of her economic and societal critiques, but paused when she announced her intentions, which were followed by a fundraising pitch.
‘I, as of today, am a candidate for the office of president of the United States,’ William son said.
One friend and supporter in the crowd was Nip/Tuck actress MaryLynne McCord.
‘I think love is always the answer,’ she told DailyMail.com. ‘But I think that we have a bastardized understanding of the word love … Love, at the baseline for me now, having studied a lot of what she’s taught, and many other great teachers, it’s a place of powerful acceptance. And it’s really hard to do because we attach to outcomes.’
McCord continued: ‘Why would love work on someone like Donald Trump, for example? I would like to know if Donald Trump felt loved by his father., felt loved by his mother. where is the wound. We all have them. And I would like to see that wound healed for him.
Williamson, 70, became a breakout figure and internet search topic with her unconventional performances during the 2020 presidential debates, before she got bumped off based on polling criteria.
‘I am not naïve about the forces which have no intention to let anyone into this conversation who does not align with their predetermined agenda,’ Williamson said, in a speech where she did not take directly attack President Joe Biden, whom she ultimately endorsed in 2020
Williamson got a ballroom filled with her supporters on their feet at her announcement
‘I think love is always the answer,’ Williamson supporter MaryLynne McCord told DailyMail.com
She is the first Democrat to announce she will challenge Biden in the primaries, where her political message laced with her New Age spiritual message could pose a headache for the 80-year-old incumbent with low approval ratings.
‘This is a campaign to win,’ her advisor Mark Van Landuyt told DailyMail.com before the event.
‘The fact that she is going to be alone on that stage with the incumbent president will assure 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 make it through the process unscathed.
‘We’re going to try very hard. We hope that the Democratic Party believes in and believes in adding more voices, not taking voices away,’ said Van Landuyt. He said Williamson was ‘very hopeful that the DNC will have a robust dialogues and there won’t be any coronations.’
Williamson has penned best-selling self-help books. Her first one, ‘A Return to Love,’ landed her on Oprah Winfrey’s show and launched her to fame.
In a January statement about her decision, she called for tackling ‘the economic injustices endured by millions of Americans due to the influence of corporate money on our political system.’
Her new campaign literature calls for a ‘new beginning’ and carries the slogan ‘disrupt the system.’
Its bullet points include issues where Biden has tangled with Republicans and members of his own party: universal healthcare, free college and technical schools, canceling student loan debt, free child care, paid family and sick leave, a wealth tax, creating a ‘green economy,’ and ‘getting money out of politics.’
It was not yet clear to what extent she plans in her campaign to go after Biden, who’s approval numbers are stuck in the low 40s. After competing against him last time, she endorsed Andrew Yang, then Bernie Sanders – before backing Biden in his run against President Donald Trump.
The Democratic National Committee announced its ‘full and complete support’ for Biden this month.
Biden challengers will have the opportunity to exploit dissension over the new primary calendar, where DNC backed by Biden moved to move South Carolina to jump ahead of traditionally first-in-the-nation New Hampshire.
In 2020, Williamson provided much-discussed performances on the debate stage.
She gushed about ‘forgiveness’ and ‘love’ as antidotes to President Donald Trump, at a time when Democrats were desperate to displace him.
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