(NewsNation) — Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson characterized certain criticism of her as sexist and says it’s legitimate for voters to consider whether they want Kamala Harris as a commander-in-chief.
Last month, Williamson was described as the “Woo-Woo Queen of the Fields of Love” in an Esquire opinion piece critical of the media for trying to create a “horse race” in the Democratic primary.
“(The article) has nothing to do with reality of who I am. A “field of love” — there’s no dismissive comments about Cornel West talking about love, or Martin Luther King Jr. talking about love,” Williamson said Friday on “Dan Abrams Live” in response to dismissive comments about her campaign. “There are a lot of things that people are saying about me and asking about me that they wouldn’t ask or say about a man.”
Williamson is a spiritual guru and self-help author who ran in 2020 for the Democratic nomination.
She is positioning herself as a more progressive alternative to President Joe Biden, who she has called a “weak candidate” delivering only incremental progress.
Instead, she says the country needs “fundamental economic reform.” She’s an advocate of universal health care and free college tuition.
She rejects the notion that that incumbent presidents shouldn’t be primaried.
“This is a very modern phenomenon,” Williamson said. “Any political party, their job is to facilitate democracy, not thwart it.”
While both Democrats and Republicans have challenged their party’s incumbent president, the president historically doesn’t participate in primary debates. In fact, no incumbent president has ever participated in a primary debate, according to the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
However, there’s a considerable lack of appetite for a redo of the last election. A CNN/SSRS survey taken last month found 31% of voters polled did not want either Trump or Biden to be their respective party’s nominee.
“I’m not worried about the Democrats losing in 2024 because of Trump. I’m worried about people losing because so many people stay home,” Williamson said.
Biden’s age is also putting Vice President Kamala Harris in the center of discussion, and she is deeply unpopular. Only 37% of voters in a recent Monmouth University poll said they approve of her job performance.
“Of course people are thinking about who the vice president is, you do no matter who’s running, and you certainly do if you have an aging president,” Williamson said. “So, it is completely legitimate that people are asking, in considering whether or not to vote for Biden, ‘Do I want Kamala Harris to be president?'”
The Hill contributed to this report.