One nation, under GOOP — Marianne Williamson cast a spell on Michiganders during the second night of the Democratic presidential primary debate on Thursday.
While Sen. Kamala Harris walked away having commanded the four-hour debate, most notably with her takedown of former Vice President Joe Biden's opposition of federally ordered school bussing during the 1970s, during which she pressed him to define his stance on racial justice issues, Michigan was under the spell of Williamson — a New York Times bestselling author, self-help legend, Project Angel Food founder, and former spiritual adviser to Oprah.
Map: Before and after #DemDebate2
— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) June 28, 2019
More data: https://t.co/I0WiP7r7bt pic.twitter.com/Wmf76znQSl
While many may only know Williamson as the eccentric subject of some of Twitter's best work and, perhaps, as the only presidential hopeful who is currently peddling a three-day online seminar titled “The Aphrodite Training on the Convergence of Woman, Goddess, and Lover” for $149, Michigan may recognize her as one of their own.
Born in Houston, Williamson lived in metro Detroit from 1998 through 2006 when she served as minister at the nondenominational Church of Today in Warren (now Ferndale's Renaissance Unity Church).
Our 2001 cover story on Williamson.
“I came there to be the interim minister at what was then the Church of Today. Like many people, I went there to stay for a year and stayed almost a decade," Williamson told The Detroit News in May, later adding, “Detroit is a piece of my heart.”
Williamson was also the subject of a 2001 Metro Times cover story, after her then-latest book, Imagine: What America Could Be in the 21st Century, was released. Her local ties may not be the only reason the 66-year-old recently had Michigan Googling the shit out of her. Last week, Williamson sat in on an episode of The View, during which she was grilled for having once referred to vaccine mandates as “draconian and Orwellian.”
“I am not anti-vaccine,” she said, adding that she may have misspoken on the topic previously.
A 2018 study shows that metro Detroit is an anti-vaccination hotspot, as Michigan is one of several states to allow kindergarten-aged children to enroll without getting the required vaccinations based on non-medical, philosophical, or religious grounds.
During last night's debate, Williamson doubled down on her lack of belief in big pharma by referring to the country's current health care system as a “sickness care system,” and tripled down on her disinterest in talking about pesky political plans, saying, “It's really nice that we have all these plans, but if you think we're going to beat Donald Trump by just having all these plans, you've got another thing coming.”
marianne williamson is the first presidential candidate from the twin peaks universe
— Seinfeld Current Day (@Seinfeld2000) June 28, 2019
Marianne Williamson has chaotic recurring Frasier character energy
— alex (@alex_abads) June 28, 2019
Marianne Williamson leaving the Democratic debate pic.twitter.com/FTNaddsHB7
— Jon (@prasejeebus) June 28, 2019
Though she failed to clinch the seat during her 2014 run for Congress in the 33rd District of California despite garnering celeb support from Katy Perry, Nicole Richie, and Kim Kardashian West, Williamson proved that she may have a few new tricks up her sleeve for the presidential bid.
For one, as her first presidential business, she's going to conduct a sassy phone call to the prime minister of New Zealand, who said that NZ is the best place in the world for a child to grow up.
“Girlfriend, you are so wrong, because the United States of America is going to be the best place in the world for a child to grow up.”
Mixing some ayahuasca with oat milk & glaring at a map of New Zealand in honor of Marianne Williamson.
— Kashana (@kashanacauley) June 28, 2019
Secondly, she plans on defeating Trump with a totally new-age wackadoo concept she is calling “love.”
“Mr. President, if you’re listening, you have harnessed fear for political purposes, and only love can cast that out. I am going to harness love for political purposes. And sir, love will win.”
Michigan will get a visit from the bewitching former resident next month during the second Democratic debate, which will take place at Detroit's Fox Theatre on July 30 and July 31.
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