Marianne Williamson, the former Detroit-area spiritual leader and bestselling author who was the first Democrat to challenge President Joe Biden in the 2024 primary, has suspended her campaign.
Williamson announced the end of her White House bid in a YouTube video posted on Wednesday.
“Particularly those of you who are young, who felt that in this campaign you saw hope, I want you to remember that that which is most important does not end on this day,” Williamson said in the video. “The story itself is so long, the American story, the arc of history is what matters, and the ideas that we stood for … anytime we put out that ripple of hope, anytime we put out any good idea, any time we shed light on a darkened sky, that light will remain and that darkness shall be less.”
Williamson made the announcement after earning 2% of the vote in the South Carolina primary on Tuesday.
As she did in her 2020 campaign, Williamson enchanted many with her message of love and peace, this time aided by TikTok, where she amassed a large following. But it was always going to be an uphill battle for her campaign, with the Democratic National Committee declining to host any primary debates and Biden, polling high, declining to engage with his competitors.
Williamson’s campaign was also reportedly marred by dysfunction, including staff turnover and fundraising issues. (Williamson denied the claims.) Some former staffers accused Williamson of being more interested in building an audience to promote her upcoming book The Mystic Jesus: The Mind of Love.
The book is scheduled for release in May.
Williamson gained fame in the 1990s as a spiritual leader for celebrities in Los Angeles and New York. In the late ’90s and early 2000s, she led the Church of Today, a Macomb County megachurch.
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