Presidential candidate Marianne Williamson is set to make a series of appearances in South Carolina from through March 30th. During her visit, Williamson will meet with voters, local activists, party officials, religious leaders, and state representatives of the Palmetto State.
Williamson believes that South Carolina is now more important than ever before to the primary season, as it is the place where the conversations that will dominate the presidential primary are being incubated.
Iowa’s caucus has led the Democratic voting calendar since 1976 and for more than a century, New Hampshire held the first in the nation balloting in presidential nominating contests but Biden prevailed on the Democratic National Committee to get South Carolina moved to the first position, after he lost those traditionally early-voting states.
Williamson said she is looking forward to discussing her ideas for a new beginning in the country, for both ourselves and our children.
“The citizens of the United States should have the same economic opportunities provided the citizens of every other advanced democracy,” said Williamson. “We need to do more than just help people survive an unjust system; we need to disrupt the unjust system.”
The White House has had a muted response to Williamson’s challenge of President Joe Biden, some officials offering ridicule and disrespect.
Williamson noted that during his first year in the White House, Biden told his staff that anyone who treated a colleague with disrespect would be fired on the spot but once again his action fell short of the rhetoric.
When asked how the president felt about Williamson’s campaign, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre mocked the progressive candidate, saying: “I’m not tracking that. I mean, if I had a – what is it called? A little globe here – a crystal ball, then I could tell you. A magic eight-ball or whatever. If I could feel her aura.”
While critics have maligned Williamson’s reputation, the best-selling author has made many very serious policy statements that set her apart from Biden, who forced railroad employees back to work without the sick time they were prepared to go on strike for, sold off four times as many federal oil and gas leases as did former President Trump, and reneged on promises to end cruel immigration policies.
Biden has also presided over a period of economic hardship made worse for working-class Americans by nine interest rate increases approved by the Federal Reserve chairman that he reappointed after being selected for the job by Trump.
Biden critics also say he should not have allowed the expanded child tax credit to expire last year. Studies have shown that the monthly payments have helped to significantly reduce child poverty and child hunger in the country.
The program would have the potential to could cut child poverty in half but hunger in the U.S. is worsening since the monthly payments ended. The Census Bureau estimated that more than 21 million Americans didn’t have enough to eat in early December, a five-month high.
Williamson will kick off her South Carolina tour with an appearance at the South Carolina Democratic Party Black Caucus Dinner on March 26th in West Columbia. The following day, on March 27th, she will be at the Lourie Center near the University of South Carolina in Columbia.
On March 28th, Williamson will visit Florence and Charleston, where she will speak at the Showtime Event Center and the Alfred Williams Community Center, respectively. On March 29th, she will visit Lancaster and speak at The Daily Grind, hosted by the Democrats of Lancaster.
Following her South Carolina visit, Williamson will travel to Tennessee on March 31st. She will attend the Knox Pride rally in Knoxville that morning and then speak at the Can’t Drag Us Down Drag Show & Story Hour in the evening at the Martha Street Cup Auditorium in Johnson City.
The founder of Project Angel Food, which provides free meals for people too sick to shop and cook for themselves, Williamson’s visit to Tennessee is aimed at showing solidarity with residents who reject anti-LGBTQ bills being pushed by extremist legislators.
Advocates say that recent legislation restricting drag performances in public spaces in Tennessee could be used to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, single parents, and religious minorities, and it could also fuel a slew of similar laws discriminating against prospective parents or jeopardizing the best interests of children proposed in other states.
Williamson’s tour of South Carolina and Tennessee is part of her campaign’s effort to connect with voters in these states and share her vision for the future of the country.
“We are upset about this country, we’re worried about this country,” Williamson told a crowd of more than 600 at her March 4, 2023, kickoff in the nation’s capital. “It is our job to create a vision of justice and love that is so powerful that it will override the forces of hatred and injustice and fear.”
Meanwhile, Williamson argues that establishment Democrats who are loyal to their corporate campaign contributors have betrayed the principles that once made it the party of the people.
“Democratic elites (DINOs) act as though progressives are trying to hijack the Democratic Party…but the opposite is true,” said Williamson. “They highjacked the party.”
“The progressive vision is unequivocal advocacy for the working people of the United States – the traditional Rooseveltian vision of the Democratic Party,” said Williamson. “Some would consider Franklin Roosevelt too much of a lefty radical to even be let into the party today!”