Democrats clashing over health care solutions got a surprising lecture on choosing a winning platform from self-help guru Marianne Williamson.
But even as she schooled them on not getting outmaneuvered by Republicans, Williamson’s voice jumped octaves in what drew comparisons to yodeling online.
It was all part of an attention-grabbing performance where the author warned against the ‘dark psychic force’ of collectivized hatred.
Williamson, who in the first debate called for defeating President Trump with ‘love,’ joined a vigorous discussion about ‘Medicare for All’ and whether the costly and ambitious plan is a political loser.
She spoke as a series of centrist and lower-tier candidates attacked Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren for their plans to effectively replace Obamacare.
YODEL-AY-HEE-HOO: Author Marianne Williamson gave fellow Democrats a hardball lecture on not getting outmaneuvered by Republicans, as her voiced jumped octaves in what some online observers compared to yodeling
Host Jake Tapper asked Williamson to weigh in. ‘I have to say, I’m normally way over there with Bernie and Elizabeth on this one,’ she said.
But she also referenced the liberal pair’s critics, who were launching attacks Tuesday night.
‘I hear the others, and I have some concern about that as well,’ she allowed.
‘And I do have concern about what the Republicans would say, and that’s not just a Republican talking point. I do have concern that it will be difficult, I have concern that it will make it harder to win, and I have concern that it will make it harder to govern,’ she said.
‘If that’s our big fight, then the Republicans will shut us down,’ she warned.
One online observer immediately compared her pitch online to yodeling.
In the first debate Williamson called for battling President Trump with ‘love’
She departed from Vermont Bernie Sanders and US Senator from Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren on healthcare strategy
Author Marianne Williamson has drawn attention with her appearances in both debates
Democrat President hopeful Marianne Williamson speaks outside the Fox Theatre on July 30, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan
Her take drew a rebuke from South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who is identified with a more pragmatic approach but who also calls for Medicare for All. He has said private insurance should be allowed to remain for now.
‘It’s time to stop worrying about what the Republicans will say,’ he scolded her. He said if Democrats adopt a far-left agenda, ‘they will say we are a bunch of crazy socialists.’ But if they adopt a conservative posture, they’ll say the same thing. ‘They will say we are a bunch of crazy socialist no matter what. So let’s just stand up for the right policy, go out there and defend it,’ he advised.
Williamson was focused on more spiritual elements of her platform in the first debate. She ended her performance by saying: ‘Mr. President, if you’re listening, I want you to hear me please: You have harnessed fear for political purposes, and only love can cast that out.’
‘So I, sir, I have a feeling you know what you’re doing. I’m going to harness love for political purposes. I will meet you on that field, and sir, love will win,’ she said.
In her breakout moment of the first debate, Williamson was asked about her first act as president, saying she would call the prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern.
‘My first call is to the Prime Minister of New Zealand, who said that her goal is to make New Zealand the place where it’s the best place in the world for a child to grow up,’ she said.
‘I would tell her: ‘Girlfriend, you are so on, because the United States of America is going to be the best place in the world for a child to grow up.’
On Tuesday, she allowed Tapper to cut her off on another question but was still assertive. She looked downward and chided him: ‘Okay I hope you’ll come back to me this time.’
In another speech from the debate stage, Williamson called out racial disparities by pointing to the wealthy Detroit enclave where she lives compared to the issues with clean water in nearby Flynt.
‘I assure you. I live in Grosse Point. What happened in Flynt would not happen in Grosse point,’ she said. ‘This is part of the dark underbelly of American society. The racism the bigotry and the entire conversation that we’re having here tonight. If you think any of this wonkiness is going to deal with this dark psychic force of the collectivized hatred that this president is bringing up in this country then I’m afraid that the Democrats are going to see some very dark days,’ she said. ‘We need to say it like it is.’
On a wealth transfer to the descendants of slaves, she called for reparations and said America will heal only ‘when there’s some deep truth-telling.’
Williamson argued that ‘anything less than $100 billion’ set aside for black Americans ‘is an insult, and I believe that $200-500 billion is politically feasible today.’
‘So many Americans realize there is an injustice that continues to form a toxicity underneath the surface, an emotional turbulence that only reparations will deal with,’ she said, returning her new-age vocabulary to the debate.
She said it was time for some ‘deep truth telling’ on the issue.
‘Payment of a debt that is owed – that is what reparations is,’ she said, to applause.
‘It is time for us to simply realize that this country will not heal,’ she said. ‘People heal when there’s some deep truth-telling. We need to recognize that when it comes to the economic gap between blacks and whites in America, it does come from a great injustice that has never been dealt with.’
‘What makes me qualified to say $200-500 billion? I’ll tell you what makes me qualified. If you did the math of the 40 acres and a mule, given that there was 4-5 million slaves at the end of the Civil War, and they were all promised 40 acres and a mule for every family of four, if you did the math today it would be trillions of dollars.’
In another moment where she called out fellow Democrats, Williamson went after politicians ‘who themselves have taken tens of thousands and in some cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars’ from corporate donors. from these same
‘I don’t think the Democratic Party should be surprised that so many Americans believe yada yada yada,’ she said.
She also scolded centrists on stage. ‘I look at some of you and I almost wonder why you’re Democrats,’ she said. ‘You almost think something is wrong with using the instruments of government to help people.’