Author Marianne Williamson said on Feb. 27 that she was “unsuspending” her presidential campaign for the Democratic primary, calling it “delusional” for voters to just be “closing our eyes and crossing our fingers” in hopes that President Joe Biden will beat former President Donald Trump in November.
“We need to take this country in a direction of hope and possibility and regeneration. That is the vision that will defeat Donald Trump, not ‘let us finish the job.’ We’re watching a car crash in slow motion here. Everybody knows that,” Ms. Williamson said in her video.
Ms. Williamson’s announcement to continue her campaign came one day after the results of the 2024 Michigan Democratic primary. While President Biden easily won by securing 81.1 percent of the votes, 13.3 percent voted “uncommitted,” while Ms. Williamson received 3 percent of the vote and Dean Phillips got 2.7 percent.
Some worry the Arab and Muslim campaign against President Biden will stretch far beyond the Great Lakes State and into the rest of the country, providing a serious obstacle to victory for the current president.
Ms. Williamson pledged to offer an “uplifting” vision for America to counter “Donald Trump’s dark vision of possibility.”
“We, the people, basically don’t own this country right now. Abraham Lincoln said that people who died in the Civil War for the Union had died so that a government of the people, by the people, and for the people will not perish from the earth. It’s perishing now, and on our watch,” she said in her video on X.
She criticized President Biden for saying “the economy’s really doing well” and claimed that those who are financially stable are “on an island surrounded by a vast sea of economic despair.”
Ms. Williamson, 71, is considered by many to be a “progressive” and to the left of President Biden.
In her video, she reasserted many of her policy positions, including expanding Medicare “for all,” providing free college and technical school, eliminating college loan debt through the Higher Education Act, and offering paid family leave, sick pay, and subsidized child care.
She also called for an end to the “war on drugs,” a ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas War, and for racial reparations for the African American community.
“We need to have a peace academy as well as a military academy. We have to have armies of peacebuilders, as well as armies of military personnel.”
A spokesperson from Ms. Williamson’s campaign told The Epoch Times that she decided to “unsuspend” her campaign after responding to “thousands of messages to her concerning the need for having a choice in the Democratic primary.”
“These messages spoke of the desperate need for hope and policies that would materially affect their daily lives for the better,” the spokesperson said.
When asked if another candidate besides President Biden could get the Democratic nomination in August, the representative said Ms. Williamson “does not have personal knowledge of any plans by the Democratic Party hierarchy to replace Biden.”
Some have asked if Ms. Williamson plans to run as a third-party candidate like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or Cornel West if she fails to secure the Democratic nomination.
“Most states have laws that restrict candidates running as independents if they didn’t win in a party nomination primary,” her spokesperson said.
It’s not clear how long Ms. Williamson plans to stay in the race. The Super Tuesday primary contests are scheduled for March 5.
