Marianne Williamson, 2024 Democratic candidate, takes on Biden in Portsmouth stop

PORTSMOUTH — Author Marianne Williamson, who is making a second attempt at running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2024, visited the city Thursday as part of an early campaign swing through New Hampshire.

She promoted her vision for universal health care, student debt cancellation, tuition-free college, free child care and the need for an “economic U-turn” in America. She spoke at Cup of Joe Cafe & Bar, owned by Portsmouth Assistant Mayor Joanna Kelley.

She said President Joe Biden is “a nice man trying to help people survive within an unjust economic system.” But more is needed, she argued.

“I do not believe that the agenda of the president, which does include incremental changes and does include the message that the economy is doing well, I do not believe that that’s the winning message for 2024,” Williamson said.

“We are a government of the corporations, by the corporations and for the corporations. That has not changed under the Biden administration and it won’t change under the Biden administration," she added later.

Williamson, 70, is a spiritual leader who has written 15 books, including bestsellers, and is founder of Project Angel Food, a nonprofit that has delivered millions of meals to ill and dying homebound patients. She unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 2020.

What’s different now? Williamson believes times have changed politically, saying many voters in 2020 just hoped to see an end to former President Donald Trump’s administration.

“Those of us who did not support that program were hoping that once his administration was over, we would go back to some level of normalcy,” she said. “People realize now that the problem has gone deeper than one president. That there is a division of hatred plaguing our nation that does not submit itself to easy, simplistic answers. That right there shows a kind of maturation of the American public.

Williamson began her remarks Thursday by reflecting on the recent display of hateful graffiti targeted at numerous Portsmouth businesses, including Cup of Joe, late last month. At Cup of Joe, which had a crucifix and swastika spray painted on a window, Kelley hosted a “Love Blooms Here” event in the days afterward, passing out flowers donated by local florists to the public, who then brought them around to the businesses hit in the barrage, as well as the nearby Temple Israel.

“The incidents that have occurred here at this place and this beautiful environment, this town, this street, this neighborhood where you least expect a swastika to be on the window, obviously that’s a wake-up call for all of us,” Williamson said.

Williamson called for paid family leave, guaranteed sick leave and guaranteed living wages for American workers, touting her support for unions and remarking as president, she would cancel all government contracts with union busters.

Describing the nation’s two-party dominance, Williamson said Republicans are owned by “corporate tyranny” and that “corporate Democrats” are the ones leading the party.

“Washington is still the two basic categories of leaders. One, a group which does not care. Another group, who, for whatever reason … with a few brave exceptions such as Bernie Sanders and others, do not have the moral courage or the spine to get in there and fix it,” she told the crowd. “I’m here today to say to you, let me in there. I will.”

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Kelley said she is not endorsing any political candidates, adding Cup of Joe welcomes all presidential candidates, including those from the Republican Party.

“It’s an open door for people,” she said. “It’s a community connector.”

Williamson’s visit on Thursday came amid Cup of Joe’s fifth anniversary on Market Street. When introducing the presidential candidate, Kelley said though she herself is an elected politician, she views herself and Williamson more as community leaders who care about people.

“One of the great privileges we have as Granite Staters (is) that most of us have access to every single candidate running for every office, because they know how important we are here. They know that our first-in-the-nation primary is so important to us. They know that we as Granite Staters are committed to positive change in the country and really try to lead that way,” Kelley said.

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New Hampshire Democrats and Republicans have banded together in support of maintaining the state’s status as the first-in-the-nation presidential primary after the Democratic National Committee voted to award the distinction to South Carolina, a Biden-backed plan.

Williamson told the crowd that she hopes Biden will travel to New Hampshire to debate her.

Williamson acknowledged her status as a longshot taking on the incumbent president, comparing it to “running into a burning building” but called her supporters “my fire retardants.”

“Let me in that house and you’re going to see some changes, and I believe with all my heart that you would like them,” she said.

Rebecca Buttignol of York, Maine, said she supported Williamson in the run-up to the 2020 election, noting she felt restricted by the two-party political system.

“I feel like I really need to support her as far as I can this time, because we really are at that precipice and what she says resonates with me spiritually and practically,” she said.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Marianne Williamson, 2024 Democratic hopeful, says Biden falls short