Marianne Williamson

During her 2020 presidential campaign, Williamson has often been accused of telling gay men not to take medication for AIDS, of implying that they were "not positive enough" to counter the disease, of telling them that they "deserved" the disease, and of telling them to "pray the AIDS away". She has repeatedly denied these accusations, as have several gay men who worked with her at the time. Most of the accusations stem from excerpts or paraphrases of her 1992 book A Return to Love. But she says that the excerpts and paraphrases distort her meaning.

In June, Williamson confirmed that she moved to Des Moines, Iowa in advance of the 2020 caucuses. And in response to the Iowa Democratic Party's proposed creation of "virtual caucuses" in the 2020 race, Williamson's campaign announced that it would appoint 99 "Virtual Iowa Caucus Captains" (each assigned to a single county) to turn out supporters in both the virtual and in-person caucuses.

On January 2, 2020, after missing several fundraising targets, Williamson announced that she would have to continue her run without campaign staff. On January 10, Williamson announced the end of her campaign and pledged to support the Democratic nominee.

During Williamson's presidential campaign, press outlets have called her "wacko," a "quack," "scary," "a joke," "kooky," "hokey," "dangerous," "bananas," "bonkers," "Secretary of Crystals," and "wackadoodle." She made headlines when she criticized Vogue Magazine for its "insidious influence" when it did not include her in an Annie Leibovitz photo shoot of the 2020 female presidential candidates. Vogue responded that it only wanted "to highlight the five female lawmakers who bring a collective 40 years of political experience to this race." Williamson subsequently posted a fan-made picture of the Vogue photo with herself edited in.

On January 9, 2019, she announced her campaign for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 United States presidential election. She suspended her campaign on January 10, 2020, a few days after laying off her campaign staff. She later endorsed Bernie Sanders at a rally in Austin, Texas on February 23, 2020.

Someone said you would hear checkbooks slamming shut all over Sotheby’s (site of a fund-raising auction) if Marianne got up and led everyone in prayer.

Marianne is not a god. She’s a human being. She has, you know, insecurities and fears, and she gets angry when things aren’t done right.

On January 19, 2019, while visiting New Hampshire, Williamson said that she had "received enough positive energy to make me feel I should take the next step," and subsequently hired Brent Roske to lead her operation in Iowa.

On January 28, 2019, Williamson officially launched her presidential campaign, in front of 2,000 people in Los Angeles, and appointed Maurice Daniel––who served alongside Donna Brazile in Dick Gephardt's campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1988––as her national campaign manager, with her campaign committee, "Marianne Williamson for President", officially filed on February 4.

As of May 1, Williamson had a campaign staff of 20 and, a week later, announced that she had received enough contributions from unique donors to enter the official primary debates. Her campaign had raised $1.5 million in the first quarter of 2019, during which it received donations from 46,663 unique individuals. Williamson subsequently met the polling criteria, with three unique polls at 1% from qualifying pollsters, on May 23.

On October 18, 2019, Hillary Clinton suggested Russians were "grooming" Tulsi Gabbard to be a third-party candidate who would help Trump win reelection through the spoiler effect (though Clinton was in fact referring to Republicans, not Russians). Williamson defended Gabbard, saying, "The Democratic establishment has got to stop smearing women it finds inconvenient! The character assassination of women who don’t toe the party line will backfire."

Throughout her campaign, Williamson talks more about ideas than plans. Some people might see that as an inability to lead, but when inciting the darkest parts of humanity helped win the previous election, trying to appeal to the light side doesn’t sound like such a bad idea. [...] She's doing her best to move the conversation to one of peace and love instead of anger and division. What is so laughable about that? [...] Campaign promises – plans for Medicare, plans for how to curb climate change – are great. But promises without a fundamental shift in thinking will simply become empty promises. Williamson is trying to teach us that our mind-set needs a new baseline, one of true empathy, so that it becomes impossible to deny people basic health care, so that Americans would never for one second think that separating breastfeeding mothers from their infants at the border is in any way acceptable.

As of August 15, 2019, Williamson is one of 12 Democratic presidential candidates who have submitted answers to the Council on Foreign Relations's "Election 2020 Questions."

Williamson supports returning dominant control of the Black Hills to the Sioux Nation, halting construction of the Keystone Pipeline, recognizing tribal sovereignty over their territory. She also supports increasing funding to Native lands’ justice systems, protecting tribal sovereignty and governance, and protecting Native religious freedom.

Williamson believes a peaceful life is attainable by thinking with God, while thinking without God creates pain. She has said, "Asking God for help doesn’t seem very comforting if we think of Him as something outside of ourselves, or capricious, or judgmental. But God is love and He dwells within us. We were created in His image, or mind, which means that we are extensions of His love, or Sons of God."

In the winter of 2018, Williamson began touring the United States as part of her Love America Tour, two-hour sessions discussing her belief that "a revolution in consciousness paves the way to both personal and national renewal." She used the slogan "Ignite the Change" to propel the tour along with the message:

On November 15, 2018, Williamson announced the formation of a presidential exploratory committee in a video in which she said that there was a "miracle in this country in 1776 and we need another one [that would require] a co-creative effort, an effort of love and a gift of love, to our country and hopefully to our world."

Williamson supports gun control, and has described the issue as one personal to her. On November 4, 2018, she gave a passionate keynote address to several hundred Muslim and Jewish women at the Sisterhood of Salaam-Shalom conference in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, eight days after 11 Jews were murdered at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue:

For several years until 2017, Williamson was a board member of Results Educational Fund (RESULTS), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity dedicated to finding long-term solutions to poverty by focusing on its root causes, and its sister organization, Results Inc., a 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organization that encourages "grassroots advocates to lobby their elected officials" and works "directly with Congress and other U.S. policymakers to shape and advance" anti-poverty policies. The organization has 100 U.S. local chapters and works in six other countries.

Williamson supports making middle-class tax cuts permanent and repealing the corporate tax cuts in the 2017 Tax Bill. She also supports the restoration and "modernization" of the Glass-Steagall Act, with the intent of separating commercial banks from investment banks in order to prevent banks from making risky investments. Williamson supports preventing corporations from engaging in tax avoidance, including tax avoidance for carried interest and ETF income. She also supports enforcement of antitrust laws and the implementation of a federal fee for financial transactions such as buying stocks or exchanging currency. Williamson also supports independent regulation of the pharmaceutical industry to prevent what she has called "predatory practices":

Williamson supports extensive investigation into Russian interference of U.S., Ukrainian and European elections. She compared Russia's meddling in the 2016 American presidential election to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II. She also supports increased cyber-security for U.S. elections.

In 2014, Williamson unsuccessfully ran as an independent to represent California's 33rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives.

Williamson's teachings stemmed from an inspirational message: "Divine love is the core and essence of every human mind." She saw this message as a remedy to misinterpretations of the Bible that, through an emphasis on sin and guilt, could lead to harm (e.g. slavery, depression, self-loathing). Initially, only a few people attended her lectures. But as word spread about "the young woman talking about a God who loves you, no matter what", she had to rent church space to accommodate the demand to see her. Four years later, she began lecturing monthly in New York. Eventually she was invited to speak throughout the U.S. and Europe. Williamson did not charge for her lectures, but had a "suggested donation" of $7 ($15 as of 2014) and a policy of not turning people away for lack of money.

Additional internal disagreements between Williamson and the board over the direction of the church—stemming from her teachings on social justice, her not getting ordained, the board questioning church finances and firings under her leadership, and her renaming the church the "Renaissance Unity Interfaith Spiritual Fellowship"—led over half of the church's 62 staff members to take steps to unionize, saying they didn't feel "respected" by Williamson, that they wanted more money, and they wanted a bigger voice in the direction of the church.

After David Geffen contributed $50,000, Williamson co-founded the organization with Louise Hay—a minister of the New Thought Church of Religious Science who claimed to have healed herself of cancer—as a refuge from, and to offer non-medical support for, people with "life-challenging illnesses." Williamson took no salary from the organization.

Williamson has said that at that time, when the medical industry had no cure or treatment for the disease—contracting it "was a death sentence"—and there was a "weird silence" from organized religion, gay men came to her because she was "talking about a God who loves you no matter what and miracles." She credits gay men in Los Angeles for her career, saying that they were living through a traumatic experience, dealing with the stress of guilt, shame, dying, and, in many cases, telling unsupportive family, and that they began coming to her lectures because:

Williamson's viewpoint of healing—of prayer and medicine—has been called unscientific, but also regarded as no different than the viewpoint of other religions.

In 2014 Williamson ran as an Independent for California's 33rd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. She was praised as a "tireless" campaigner but criticized for not articulating specifics in her plans. Her supporters deemed her lack of plans a strength and said she was not a "made-to-order candidate" who gave "lip service."

Williamson also supports the creation of a Department of Children and Youth—a new cabinet-level agency to create programs to reduce infant mortality, illness, food insecurity, homelessness, and undereducation.

Williamson supports eliminating the sale of assault rifles and semi-automatic weapons, banning bump stocks and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating the current limits on the Center for Disease Control's ability to track and record gun ownership numbers. She also supports mandatory universal background checks and waiting periods for all gun dealers—including at gun shows and sporting retailers—child safety locks on all guns, and restrictions on the ability of the mentally ill to buy guns.

Williamson has expressed a deep belief in forgiveness based on the notion that nothing is real, or exists, but love: "If a person behaves unlovingly, then that means that, regardless if their negativity—anger or whatever—their behavior was derived from fear and doesn’t actually exist. They’re hallucinating. You forgive them, then, because there’s nothing to forgive."

A "both-and" approach (both prayer and medicine) to physical and mental health has been attributed to Williamson. This approach—the efficacy of prayer—accepts medical science as part of God's power to heal. For example, surgery may be seen as God answering prayers to heal. This logic invokes what Johns Hopkins Medicine has called the "strong link between 'positivity' and health", in which "positive attitude improves outcomes and life satisfaction across a spectrum of conditions."

Williamson is often called terms like "New Age guru." The label has been associated with her for years, but she has long rejected such terms, calling them "outrageous". Religious organizations have also said that she is not "New Age" but teaches an "evolved Christianity—blending elements of Eastern mysticism into Christian language—using terms 'tied to old New Age'". She has said she finds it "creepy" to be called a "spiritual leader", believes it insults her audience's intelligence, and prefers to be called an author.

Williamson has often commented on how she is portrayed in the media, and believes that her image as a "seeker" has brought ridicule in the press. During her 2014 Congressional run, Williamson said, "I’m sure they’re going to say I’m a New Age nutcase, dragon lady, lightweight thinker." She has said of her image, "There has been a tendency to create a caricature, and it’s very difficult to battle a caricature." According to The New York Times Magazine, the depiction of her by "many in the press" has been "snide".

Williamson supports universal health care under a "Medicare for All type of plan." She has also stated that she supports extending health coverage –– including coverage for home care –– to currently uninsured Americans.

Williamson supports the creation of a program of which every citizen, between 18 and 26, can perform one year of voluntary National Service –– helping schools, hospitals, infrastructure, sustainability, regenerative agricultural projects, the military, the Peace Corps –– that can be remunerated for housing, "basic costs," or financial support for higher education.

Williamson supports a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict which secures both the legitimate security of Israel and the human rights, dignity and economic opportunities of the Palestinian people. She expressed support for using the power of the Presidency to exert pressure on Israel to restart talks on this solution.

The implication was that if you have any skepticism whatsoever, you are 'anti-science' [and a 'kook']. And I think there's a difference between having skepticism about science and having skepticism about the pharmaceutical industry. So, I think that –– even though my child was vaccinated –– I think that there is a public health issue that overrides individual liberty here even though I don't want the government, as a rule, telling me what I can do, and what I can't do, with my body for medical purposes. At the same time I think that the government earned our distrust. [...] This is the problem when institutions lose their moral authority [...], even when they say something that we should listen to, people have a skepticism –– and that's the real problem. [...] The answer is not to tell us we're 'kooks,' but get their act together so that they are more trustworthy again.

In 2013, Williamson reported having assets estimated to be valued between $1 million and $5 million (not including personal residences).

In 2012, Yale University's Women’s Campaign School—an independent, nonpartisan, issue-neutral political campaign training and leadership program hosted at Yale Law School—partnered with the series, which focused on how to better address many social issues, including child poverty, campaign finance reform, and high incarceration rates

During Williamson's presidential campaign, several excerpts of her past comments have conflated her skepticism of the pharmaceutical industry's trustworthiness with an embrace of anti-vaccination dogma. As a result, she has been accused of being "anti-medicine" and "anti-science." She denies such accusations, saying they "could not be further from the truth." But critics points to Williamson's January 2012 interview on her radio show, "Living Miraculously," with Gwen Olsen, a 15-year veteran of the pharmaceutical industry who implied that she personally believed antidepressants could be dangerous and linked to autism. Critics also cite a podcast interview with Russell Brand in which Williamson, while speaking about vaccine exemptions, "glibly" described the process by which vaccines are mandated as "Orwellian" and likened the debate about vaccination mandates to the abortion debate. She later apologized, saying she "misspoke," and that the comments erroneously made her "sound as though I question the validity of life-saving vaccines."

In 2010 Williamson launched "Sister Giant", a series of conferences to "start a new conversation about transformational politics" and encourage more women to run for office: Williamson saw herself as a "cheerleader," supporting women who had never been politically involved, on the campaign level, but who might be considering, 'Why not me?'"

Following her departure, congregation members wrote to local newspapers voicing their support of Williamson. Williamson remained a guest minister at the church. She moved back to Los Angeles in 2009.

In 2008, during the financial crisis, Williamson lost two of her homes in the Detroit metro area, valued at nearly $3 million, to foreclosure.

On February 16, Williamson's campaign announced the appointment of former Congressman Paul Hodes, who represented New Hampshire's 2nd congressional district from 2007 to 2011, as New Hampshire state director and senior campaign advisor.

In 2006, a Newsweek poll named her one of the 50 most influential baby boomers.

The Peace Alliance seeks the establishment of a U.S. Department of Peace. In 2005 Williamson traveled to Washington to help Congressman Dennis Kucinich's effort to establish the department.

Williamson has called for the establishment of a Department of Peace to expand global diplomacy, mediation, and educational and economic development. She supported the creation of such a department in 2005, backing efforts by Congressman Dennis Kucinich, to try to establish it.

In 2004 the GSA's name was changed to The Peace Alliance and given a new mandate focused on grassroots education and advocacy organization with the intent of increasing U.S. government support for peace-building approaches to domestic and international conflicts. The Peace Alliance taught peace activists how to lobby their congressional representatives. Williamson said of the need for this work:

Williamson resigned from the Church Renaissance Unity Interfaith Spiritual Fellowship in 2003 amid speculation that she otherwise would have been fired. Upon leaving the church, Williamson said of the experience:

At the height of her popularity, in 1998, Williamson sold her $2.7 million home. She decided to stop teaching and join the ministry. She said, "I had a lot going on in my life. I just felt I had to leave. I had a baby." Williamson said that becoming a pastor was a way "to get dirt in her fingers again"—"to experience the day-to-day lives of hundreds of people"—and would be helpful in her work as a spiritual guide.

Project Angel Food was able to remain operational after Williamson's departure. By 1998 it had over 1,500 volunteers and nearly 1,000 clients. As of 2018, with expanded food, nutrition and counseling services, it delivered 12,000 meals weekly throughout Los Angeles and had 55 employees, over 3,000 volunteers, nearly 1,500 clients, and revenue of nearly $4 million. In 30 years Project Angel Food has provided and delivered 12 million meals. Williamson remains a trustee of the organization.

In 1998 Williamson co-founded the non-profit Global Renaissance Alliance (GSA) with Conversations with God author Neale Donald Walsch. The organization established a network of "citizen salons" to pray for national growth, peace and liberal causes.

Williamson, who first expressed her support of reparations in her 1993 book, Illuminata –– advocating that the U.S. will not reconcile its racial and economic divide without them has said of the policy proposal –– states that her policy on reparations is not part of "a black agenda,"

Williamson stepped down from the Center in the summer of 1992. The New York Center was able to remain open following a donation from Cher. Williamson gave the organization a $50,000 check and "graciously walked away." She remained an advisor to the organization.

Williamson resigned from Project Angel Food in March 1992 amid infighting, two months after the board fired executive director and gay activist Steve Schulte, with some speculating that Williamson—who had been open about her wanting him gone—was responsible for the firing. Schulte, who had been the Center's third executive director in five years, was well-liked among the employees because he lobbied for salary increases, but clashed with Williamson over the operational approach to running the organization. His firing led a majority of the remaining employees to call for Williamson's resignation, his reinstatement, the replacement of the entire board, and unionization if Williamson remained. Stephen Bennett, a consultant hired to assess the situation, determined that there were more paid staff on hand than needed, but with a union vote pending, Bennett refused to lay employees off. It was determined that the best option was for Williamson to resign.

Williamson's looks have often been referenced in press about her. Martin Gardner of Skeptical Inquirer called her a "sexy little guru" in 1992. Simon Sebag Montefiore of Psychology Today called her a "highly charged packet of sexuality." Zack Munson of the Washington Examiner said Williamson "is tall, brunette, beautiful, and quite squarely put together." Mark Leibovich of the New York Times wrote that Williamson "looks amazing for 61, in that well-moisturized-L.A.-famous-person kind of way." Katherine Miller of Buzzfeed called Williamson "striking at 66."

In October 1991, Williamson officiated at the wedding of Elizabeth Taylor and Larry Fortensky. She said that derisive publicity of the wedding harmed her credibility, as she was labeled "Guru to the Glitterati."

In 1990, she gave birth to a daughter, India Emmaline. India pursued a doctorate in history at Goldsmiths College in London.

In 1989, with another $50,000 from Geffen, Williamson opened another Center for Living in New York, but it was hampered by conflict between staff and the board over Williamson's management style, which an unnamed former associate described as "very controlling." There was also a rift because, while the Los Angeles Center welcomed Williamson's use of prayer in her teachings and the use of the word "God", the more secular New York Center rebuked it.

In 1989, Williamson launched Project Angel Food to support HIV/AIDS patients. The program was operated by The Centers for Living, but became so successful that its name recognition outgrew its parent company. By 1992 it had raised over $1.5 million and was delivering nearly 400 hot meals a day to home-bound AIDS patients in Los Angeles. Williamson deemed the demand for the organization's services to be a positive sign about HIV/AIDS:

After a colleague reportedly called her a "bitch" for demanding to pray before a 1989 New York City charity event, she wryly replied, "If I'm a bitch, I'm a bitch for God." The term has been associated with her ever since.

In 1987, during lunch with a close friend who was struggling with breast cancer, Williamson's friend expressed a need for help: "She said that for years she had been looking for someone to help her heal and now she needed someone to help her die." This request inspired Williamson to create the Center for Living.

In 1983, Williamson had what she has called a "flash" to close the coffeeshop and move to Los Angeles. She said she felt the city would be welcoming to her because of its willingness to "start new conversations." She made the move with $1,000 in her pocket. She got an apartment in Hollywood. Her roommate was 17-year-old Laura Dern, who noted that Williamson "held prayer groups in our living room." Williamson got a job at the Philosophical Research Society. As part of their lecture series, she started speaking about A Course in Miracles as "a self-study program of spiritual psychotherapy." Her lectures were grounded in her belief that by consulting the Course, every problem can be solved, and that miracles are possible through a change in perspective. According to Williamson, "All that a miracle is is a shift in perception from fear to love. It’s simply the notion that when your world view changes, your behavior changes".

In the 1980s Williamson began founding charities based on the principles in the Course.

In 1979 Williamson returned to Houston, where she ran a metaphysical bookstore coffeeshop, sang Gershwin standards in a nightclub, got married and divorced "almost immediately," and underwent a "spiritual surrender".

Williamson was briefly married in 1979 to a Houston businessman. She said the marriage lasted "for a minute and a half."

In 1975, Helen Schucman published A Course in Miracles, a curriculum for spiritual transformation. Schucman was a clinical psychologist and research psychologist who was a professor of medical psychology at Columbia University from 1958 to 1976. After being in a long-term "stressful professional environment," and seeking a way to address the contention, Schucman began to have a series of inner experiences that she understood as visions, dreams, heightened imagery, and an "inner voice" that reportedly revealed itself to her as Jesus.

Williamson attended Houston ISD's Bellaire High School. After graduating, she spent two years studying theater and philosophy at Pomona College in Claremont, California, where she was a roommate of film producer Lynda Obst. In 1973, Williamson—an active antiwar protester—dropped out of college and lived "a nomadic existence" during what she calls "her wasted decade." She moved to New Mexico, where she took classes at the University of New Mexico and lived in a geodesic dome with her boyfriend. She broke up with her boyfriend a year later and moved to Austin, Texas, where she took classes at the University of Texas. After leaving Texas, she went to New York City, intending to pursue a career as a cabaret singer, but got distracted by "bad boys and good dope." Vanity Fair wrote that Williamson "spent her twenties in a growing state of existential despair". In New York, Williamson suffered from deep depression following the end of a relationship. She has said that this experience gave rise to a desire to spend the rest of her life helping people.

Later that month, Williamson participated in the first primary debate. She spoke for four minutes and 58 seconds, placing her 17th in speaking time of the 20 candidates. The LA Times wrote that Democratic voters were "confused" and "transfixed" by Williamson, who declared that her first act as president would be to call New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and say, "Girlfriend, you are so on", a reference to Ardern's emphasis on building a country that treats its children well.

Marianne Deborah Williamson (born July 8, 1952) is an American author, spiritual leader, politician, and activist. She has written 13 books, including four New York Times number one bestsellers in the "Advice, How To, and Miscellaneous" category. She is the founder of Project Angel Food, a volunteer food delivery program that serves home-bound people with HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses. She is also the co-founder of the Peace Alliance, a nonprofit education and advocacy organization supporting peace-building projects. She later received national attention as a result of her frequent appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show and was known as Oprah's "spiritual adviser."

Williamson was born in Houston, Texas, in 1952. She is the youngest of three children of Samuel "Sam" Williamson, a World War II veteran and immigration lawyer, and Sophie Ann (Kaplan), a homemaker and community volunteer. Her older brother, Peter, became an immigration lawyer. Her late sister, Elizabeth "Jane", was a teacher. Her father, and maternal grandparents, were Russian Jewish immigrants. Her grandfather changed his surname from Vishnevetsky to Williamson after seeing "Alan Williamson Ltd" on a train.

Williamson said that her lack of elective office experience does not disqualify her from being president. She implies that not having held office before is, in part, what makes her uniquely qualified. She stated that the belief that only experienced politicians can lead the U.S. is "preposterous", arguing that experienced politicians led the U.S. into unfounded wars, extreme income inequality and environmental harm. She has called for her expertise in empathy, differentiated thinking, and political vision to be valued on par with elected experience and cited President Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1932 statement that "The Presidency is not merely an administrative office. That's the least of it... It is preeminently a place of moral leadership":

On July 30, Williamson participated in the second primary debate. She spoke for eight minutes and 52 seconds. Despite placing 19th in speaking time, she was the most Googled candidate in 49 of 50 states and received the fourth-most attention on Twitter. The spike in searches was prompted by her reference to the Flint water crisis (which she described as a "part of the dark underbelly of American society") and her assertion that President Trump was harnessing a "dark psychic force of the collectivized hatred" which she later described as racism, bigotry, antisemitism, homophobia, Islamophobia, and xenophobia propelled by social media.

Where I'm coming from is not that I have a 'Black agenda.' I have an American agenda". [...] The reason I want reparations, as opposed to simple race-based policies, [is because] race-based policies leave open the question whose fault it is that this gap even exists. And race-based policies provide justice, but it doesn't provide the power that capital provides, and that is really what we're talking about here. We're talking about an economic gap that existed in 1865, that was actually increased with another 100 years. So after 200 years of slavery, you had another 100 years of institutionalized violence against black people in America. My point –– reparations carry more than the power of purely financial restitution. They carry moral force. We need to deal with these things on a deeper, more transformative level. This should not be considered "cuckoo." This should not be considered "wacky."