Marianne Williamson ends long-shot presidential bid as Democratic challenger

WASHINGTON — Marianne Williamson suspended her 2024 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination on Wednesday after poor showings in both states. New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries.

“I read a quote the other day that said sunsets are proof that endings can be beautiful,” Williamson said in a YouTube video. “And so today, even though it’s time to end my run for president, I want to see the beauty, and I want to see the beauty in all of you who have supported me so incredibly along the way — donors, supporters, team and volunteers.”

Williamson launched his bid for the White House in March 2023, long before the president even did Joe Biden announced that he plans to run again.

“Our work is to create a vision of justice and love strong enough to overcome the forces of hate, injustice and fear,” Williamson said at the launch event in Washington’s Union Station. “As of today, I am running for president of the United States.”

A spokesman for Biden’s campaign declined to comment when reached by NBC News.

Williamson has never held elected office, but he previously ran for president in 2020. He dropped out of the race a few weeks before the primary election process began.

Before the New Hampshire primary, Williamson suggested to voters that former President Donald Trump would win the 2024 general election.

“I don’t have a good feeling about what’s going to happen in 2024 because 2024 is not going to be like 2020. 2024 is going to be like 2016,” Williamson said at a town hall meeting in Portsmouth.

Williamson criticized Democrats for pushing an anti-Trump narrative in the 2024 campaign, saying it won’t be enough for electoral success this term.

“Try to beat Donald Trump by saying things are going well. Really? Things are going well for the 20 percent of us. … For 80% of Americans, the idea that things are going well economically is like a slap in the face,” Williamson said, making socioeconomic inequality a cornerstone of his campaign.

Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has cast himself as a progressive candidate, repeating some of the platforms he ran on in 2016.

“If you’re in the top 20 percent of Americans who earn, the economy is doing well,” he said. campaign site. “But that 20 percent lives on an island surrounded by a sea of ​​economic despair. In this sea, countless personal and social dysfunctions easily arise – from chronic anxiety and addiction to the ideological capture of truly psychotic, even fascist, elements of our society.

for other issues during the campaignWilliamson called for a “statutory fund for victims of police brutality,” said the U.S. should “declare a national climate emergency” and called for a halt to “all new fossil fuel projects.”