(AFP) – Self-help writer Marianne Williamson said Wednesday she was suspending her unlikely campaign to unseat Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee for the US presidential election.
Williamson, who also threw her hat in the ring in 2020 but dropped out before a single vote was cast, faced an uphill battle to take on the incumbent president in 2024.
“It is time to suspend my campaign for the presidency,” the 71-year-old said in a video posted to her Instagram account, adding that she still saw the “beauty” in her and her team’s work.
“While the level of our failure is obvious to all, a level of success is real nonetheless,” the author, who in 1992 penned her debut book “A Return to Love,” wrote in the accompanying social media post.
In the first Democratic primary in New Hampshire last month, Williamson won just 4 percent of the vote, with only 5,000 ballots cast for her.That was in comparison to the 64 percent won by Biden, who did not even technically appear on the ballot due to a row with local officials.
Williamson, known for her spiritual-guru persona, campaigned on universal health coverage and parental leave. In launching her primary challenge against Biden, she said, “We owe President Biden a debt of gratitude for defeating President Trump in 2020.” But she said Biden was not equipped to handle everything the Republicans “are going to be throwing at us in 2024.”
The theme of love popped up again in Williamson’s message ending her campaign Wednesday night. “May love yet prevail, in our hearts and in the world,” she wrote, along with a blue heart emoji. –
