Self-help author Marianne Williamson pulls plug on campaign

Marianne Williamson, who also threw her hat in the ring in 2020 but dropped out before a vote was cast, faced an uphill battle.

‘It is time to suspend my campaign’: Marianne Williamson. Picture: AFP

Self-help writer Marianne Williamson has suspended 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 on Thursday, 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,” said the author, who in 1992 penned her debut book A Return to Love.

In the first Democrat primary in New Hampshire in January, Williamson won 4 per cent of the vote, with only 5000 ballots cast for her. That was in comparison to the 64 per cent won by Mr Biden, who did not even technically appear on the ballot because of a row with local officials.

Williamson campaigned on universal health coverage and parental leave. In launching her primary challenge, she said “We owe President Biden a debt of gratitude for defeating President Trump in 2020” but he 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 her message ending her campaign: “May love yet prevail, in our hearts and in the world.”

AFP