(WASHINGTON) — Marianne Williamson, the author and speaker who ran against President Joe Biden in the 2024 and 2020 primaries, sounded the alarm Tuesday evening over Biden’s ability to campaign and serve as commander-in-chief amid concerns over his age and cognitive health.
In an interview with Kyra Phillips on ABC News Live, Williamson slammed Democratic leadership for backing Biden after his politically disastrous debate against 2024 opponent Donald Trump earlier this month.
“I think the Democratic leadership completely underestimates the level of disgust that Americans are feeling due to their cowardice, due to their hypocrisy. You know, the issue is not just crisis; it’s crisis management. And they are failing at crisis management,” Williamson told Phillips.
Williamson said the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate should push for change.
“If [Biden] doesn’t want to give up the delegates, he doesn’t have to. It’s called an intervention. It’s called Hakeem Jeffries and Senator Schumer and whomever else walking into a room with the president, with the First Lady, with Hunter – whomever – and saying, this has got to stop. You are risking our victory in November,” Williamson said.
While leadership has said they’re with Biden, seven House Democrats have publicly called on the president to step down from the ticket since the showdown, even as additional information over his health and mental acuity has surfaced.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey on Tuesday joined Reps. Raúl Grivalja, Lloyd Doggett, Mike Quigley, Seth Moulton and Angie Craig in calling for Biden to withdraw from the race. Over a dozen senators and over 40 House members have publicly declared their support for Biden.
The presidential primary cycle concluded in June, with Biden earning over 99% of the Democratic delegates. Williamson was on the ballot in most states and territories this election cycle, notwithstanding a brief suspension of her candidacy in February before shortly jumping back into the race.
She said at the end of the primary cycle that she was no longer a candidate for the party’s nomination because the 2024 presidential preference contests had ended. Williamson was the first Democrat to jump in the primary this cycle, announcing her candidacy in February 2023.
“I’ve been challenging him for a year and a half, and I understand why these people are afraid. This crowd is tough. This crowd is vicious. This crowd smears. They lie, they suppress candidacies. And the elected politicians in the Democratic Party know they’re – they’re hearing the warning; they’re hearing the threat, and they know that it’s true,” Williamson said.
While she was a candidate, Williamson seldom discussed Biden’s age. In the weeks since the debate, she has been vocal in urging him to step down.
“I started all this feeling a lot of compassion for him. This had to have been a very humiliating experience. … What is happening now is not deserving of respect. No one person is indispensable,” Williamson said on Tuesday.
“We’re not only being asked: can the president handle the next four months of the campaign? It is reasonable for the American voter to ask: can he handle the next four years of the presidency?” We heard him be strong on ‘Morning Joe’ the other day. But the president of the United States can’t be episodically strong. The president of the United States cannot be episodically on top of his game,” she added.
Party leaders like Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker have all been ardent in their support for Biden at the top of the ticket in 2024. On Tuesday, Williamson reasoned that those other Democrats who have been floated as possibilities to replace Biden were considering their own political futures rather than challenging Biden now.
“Because of their own cynical calculations, their own ambitions for their own careers, they won’t stand on principle and stand on what they know. And they expect the American people to turn the keys to the White House over to them, not just the White House,” Williamson said.
“We’re now risking the House and the Senate, not only because the president could drag everything down,” she added.
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