Joe Biden is 'Selfish' to be Running at His Age—Marianne Williamson

It's a bright, uncharacteristically hot day in London's Kensington quarter. Marianne Williamson, a bestselling self-help author and one of three Democratic presidential hopefuls to so far declare their candidacy, is in the U.K., taking a break from the campaign trail for the birth of her granddaughter.

The following day, she would travel northwards to give a talk at the Cambridge Union, the U.K.'s oldest university debating institution. But before that, she spoke to Newsweek about her vision for America and the challenges facing the nation as it looks towards the 2024 election.

In a wide-ranging interview, Williamson says that Democrat incumbent Joe Biden is "selfish" to run for a second term, that she has a genuine hope of being the party's nominee come next August, and that the largest threat Democrats face in 2024 is not Donald Trump, but voters staying home on election day.

Williamson also explains why she wants America to have a universal healthcare system—albeit in the form of Medicare for all—as well as to decriminalize drugs, and how she would push for federal reparations for the descendants of African American slaves and a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine.

Williamson cuts an interesting figure. She was born in Houston before dropping out of college to lead a nomadic life that included stints as a nightclub singer and building geodesic domes in New Mexico.

After a series of self-professed bad relationships, she rediscovered religion in her own, spiritualistic way, and soon became Helen Schucman's A Course in Miracles main proponent while living in Los Angeles.

There, Williamson mingled with stars—at one point living with a young Laura Dern, she told Elle in 2014—before writing 13 self-help books, her New York Times bestseller A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles earning her the title of Oprah Winfrey's spiritual advisor.

In 2014, Williamson turned her attention to politics. Standing as an independent in a California congressional race in 2014, she ran in the 2020 Democratic primary before withdrawing in January of that election year. The party—and the country—would go on to elect Biden, who she was first to announce she was running against for the 2024 election in March this year.

'It's His Policies That Concern Me'

As many have noted, Biden will be turning 82 just weeks after election day, and will be 86 by the end of a potential second term. Sworn in aged 78, he is already the oldest U.S. president in history.

"For me, running for president at that age is a bit selfish," says Williamson, 70. While questions have been raised of Biden's mental acuity, which the sitting president has brushed off, she adds that she doesn't have "any interest in personalizing my opposition to President Biden."

"It's his policies that concern me. The president is taking an incremental approach to our society's repair," she argues. "People who think that's enough, for the most part, tend to be people who already have adequate healthcare, and can afford to send their kids to college and are not loaded down by crippling medical debt or college loan debt."

Williamson adds: "If we go with Biden, we're watching a slow-motion car crash reminiscent of 2016."

Biden advocates might reference his success in passing landmark climate change packages, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, and his jobs record, adding 10.7 million roles to the economy according to the latest tally.

But Williamson lamented his partial approval of the controversial Willow oil project and that he had approved more oil drilling projects than Trump—7,118 to 7,051, according to figures the Washington Post reported in late March.

Newsweek approached the Biden campaign via email for comment on Thursday.

The Democratic hopeful worries that voters will stay home on election day if the party re-selects Biden, who according to the latest Suffolk University/USA Today poll of 293 likely voters, conducted between June 5-9, carries 58 percent support in the primaries.

Her decision to run again, Williamson says, is because while the last election was for Democrats solely about "defeating Trump" in the "naïve belief" that the country "could go back to normal," the leading Republican candidate "inspired something in the United States."

"People now realize the problem is bigger than him—that the problem represents a genuine authoritarian, possibly even neo-fascist, threat to America," she says. As such, Williamson argues, the greatest challenge for the Democratic Party is "convincing those who don't even have enough hope left to try once more, and give the Democrats a chance."

Williamson is currently polling last in the field, the Suffolk survey shows, behind Robert F. Kennedy Jr., on 15 percent. So does she realistically hope of winning the nomination, or is her latest campaign a bid to shape the Democratic debate?

"You don't go through this—you don't go through the insults, smear and assault on a daily basis—just because you're hoping to change a conversation," she responds. "If that's all I want to do, I can write another book."

'I Hope Trump Receives a Fair Trial'

The conversation turns to Trump, 77, who after four years in the political wilderness is mounting a third run for the White House—this time while battling two criminal indictments, the first former president to do so.

In both cases, Trump denies any wrongdoing and has pleaded innocent, claiming that he was the subject of a politically-motivated "witch hunt." Williamson says that she did feel that the indictments building up against the GOP frontrunner might be perceived by the electorate as he sees them "when we were talking about [alleged] hush money to a former mistress," but "the latest indictment is far more serious."

"We're talking about nuclear secrets; we're talking about plans for foreign invasions," she remarks. "If anyone cannot see the seriousness of these crimes, then I'm sorry, but that does not make them less serious."

Williamson is quick to note that Jack Smith—prosecutor in Trump's federal indictment relating to classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago, Florida residence—is an "independent counsel" and "not an instrument of the Biden administration," as Trump has claimed.

She adds: "The [former] president is like every other American; he is innocent until proven guilty and he is not above the law. My hope, as should be the hope of every American, is that he received a fair trial."

Newsweek approached the Trump campaign via email for comment on Thursday.

But Trump and his allies have argued there is an inconsistency in the application of the law, with Biden found to have kept classified documents in two private locations and Hillary Clinton to have kept classified information on a private email server while Secretary of State.

Williamson notes that the investigation of Biden by special counsel Robert Hur is far from a conclusion, and says: "No one can say that they didn't come after Hillary Clinton."

She adds: "[Then-FBI director James] Comey made quite a big deal about her emails, to the point many believe of unduly influencing that election." Comey responded to these criticisms in 2018, telling ABC News he was "operating in a world where Hillary Clinton was going to beat Donald Trump."

'You Better Believe I Would Not Be Quiet' About Abortion

Williamson's health policies include instituting a universal healthcare system, but also stiffening environmental regulations to reduce toxins in food and water. She is also "one hundred percent pro-choice," stating abortion decisions lie solely with women's conscience and God. Many anti-abortion advocates say they are motivated by their religious beliefs.

The presidential primary backmarker laments the overturning of Roe v. Wade, saying: "There were times when the Democrats had the power and could have codified abortion rights. They chose not to." If the party were to win back both houses, a Williamson presidency would push for filibuster reform and "get this thing done," she says.

However, she admits without majorities in both houses, "the president does not have a magic wand," but adds: "the President does have the bully pulpit, and you better believe I would not be quiet about this."

Williamson is incredulous about the lack of universal healthcare in the U.S. "You have it here in the United Kingdom; every other advanced democracy has it but ours," she says. "Why shouldn't Americans have it? We're the richest country in the world."

Noting that 18 million Americans cannot afford their prescriptions, she then re-treads arguments she has been making since 2020: "Why is it that we don't have universal health care? For one reason: The greed of the insurance industry. Why is it that people are rationing their insulin? For one reason: The greed of the pharmaceutical industry?"

She is also in favor of decriminalizing all drugs and moving towards a health-based approach to addiction—something Oregon did in 2021 and have been unsuccessful Democrat-led attempts at. Williamson says the war on drugs has been "an utter failure" and "we need to move in another direction."

While advocates argue decriminalization lowers arrest and incarceration rates, which disproportionately affect ethnic minorities, there are concerns about a potential rise in use and overdoses.

America's Violence Is 'A National Character Flaw'

The U.S. had more mass shootings in the first hundred days of 2023 than any year previously, and gun deaths are at their highest since the early 1990s. There is a tension in the political sphere between whether this is a reason for stricter gun laws—something Williamson advocates—or a product of cultural and mental health issues, something the Democratic candidate also recognizes.

"There is an aspect of the American character which has been with us from the beginning, that moves too quickly in the direction of brute force," she says. "At our best that has been adequately countered by the many wonderful aspects of our national character—and there are wonderful aspects to our national character. But this is like a national character flaw. And it has to be rooted out where it begins."

Williamson notes the violence in film and television, but also the violent language on social media which, she suggests, betrays a violence "that's too often in our own hearts."

Unlike any other presidential candidate, she is calling for at least $1 trillion to be designated as reparations for the descendants of slaves.

The policy, while touted by others, is not uncontroversial: many believe that despite the past injustices against African Americans, those who do not own slaves should not pay those who are not slaves—and $1 trillion is a lot of money, especially given Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy took the nation to the brink of default over $1.5 trillion in federal savings.

Williamson responds that her plan would disperse the money over two decades, rather than in one go, and cites racial disparities in wages—viewing it as a race-based stimulus package, akin to other packages that "stimulate the economy only for the small group of people."

How would she pay for it? "How do you pay for anything?" she says. "The United States pays for what it wants to pay for."

Williamson also has an expansive policy on LGBTQ+ civil rights, which argues LGBTQ+ individuals "should be able to pursue a livelihood free from discrimination."

But she reveals that she would place limits on transgender individuals participating in women's sports categories—a key culture war debate that pits the desires of two underrepresented groups against one another.

Williamson thinks transgender women should be allowed into women's sports "only if there is chemical and hormonal and muscular proof that they do not pose an unfair advantage." She adds she does not consider this discriminatory, but "justice for all concerned."

'The Spirit With Which Ukrainians Are Fighting This War Is Not Something That Can Be Artificially Created'

Trump has vowed to end the war in Ukraine in a day if re-elected, hinting he would look to broker a peace deal between it and Russia.

Fifteen months in and with a fresh counter-offensive underway, as of June 4 the UN estimates nearly 9,000 casualties and over 15,000 injured—both military and civilian—though the true numbers are likely far higher, with nearly 6.3 million refugees fleeing the bloody conflict.

Though Williamson hopes the war would have ended come the next Inauguration Day, she says: "Any international observer would look at the situation and realize that it's hard to imagine any other than a negotiated settlement where Ukraine has to give up something. And the United States should not be giving any kind of a blank check regarding our support, simply because Ukraine feels that way."

The U.S. has so far given Ukraine $115 billion in funding since the invasion began, but Ukraine has consistently asked Western allies for greater military aid to mount its counter-offensive, while political fatigue over America's support grows.

The Ukrainian government has desisted from negotiating peace after attempts early on in the war, viewing any settlement as involving the sacrificing of territory to Russia. Volodymyr Zelensky, the nation's president, has vowed to recover all its lost ground—including Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.

"The point is, the Ukrainians believe that. Some people in the United States say: 'They're only saying that because the United States is telling them to say it,'" Williamson replies when asked about this challenge. "It is Ukrainian soldiers who are fighting that war. It is Ukrainian citizens who are sacrificing what they are sacrificing."

While she suggests that the U.S. "meddled" in Ukraine, Williamson says: "That does not to me justify the brutal imperialism of Vladimir Putin. That should not lead to an apology for Vladimir Putin.

"It is a classic technique of the abuser to say 'you made me do it.' We didn't make him do it. And the argument that we did, among other things, leaves out the agency of the Ukrainian people. The spirit with which they are fighting this war is not something that can be artificially created by the U.S. war machine; these people are fighting for the existence of their country."

Newsweek approached the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence and the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry via email for comment on Thursday.

A Future Run?

Even though America is still in the early stages of the 2024 election run, even if Biden wins a second term, there remains a question mark over who will take on the Democratic torch after him—and could her name be Williamson?

"I would doubt that," she laughs, citing her age, despite being a decade younger than Biden. "Take me while you can have me, everybody."

Williamson is also skeptical of the notion of a role in a future Biden administration. She quips: "There is no universe in which President Biden would be offering me a cabinet position. I'd be lucky if he doesn't deport me."