Self-help author Marianne Williamson, whose 2020 White House campaign featured more quirky calls for spiritual healing than actual voter support, has launched another long-shot bid for the presidency, becoming the first Democrat to formally challenge President Joe Biden for the 2024 nomination.
"I, as of today, am a candidate for the office of president of the United States," she said in a campaign kick-off in the nation's capital.
Ms Williamson will almost certainly provide only token primary opposition — a testament to how strongly national Democrats are united behind Mr Biden.
Still, she tweaked the president, a longtime Amtrak rider, by holding her opening rally at the presidential suite at Union Station, Washington's railway hub.
The announcement makes Ms Williamson the first notable Democrat to primary Mr Biden, who is widely expected to seek re-election and has the benefit of incumbency and the backing of a unified Democratic establishment.
She is set to follow her campaign launch with travel to several states voting early in the Democratic primary process, including South Carolina and New Hampshire, which could hold a rogue primary in defiance of the Democratic National Committee.
Ms Williamson has been telegraphing her intention to challenge Mr Biden for some time now, telling a student news outlet that asked the question last month during a phone interview that "if we were on FaceTime, you'd see me wink".
Last Saturday, she wrote on Facebook that since the 2016 election "it's odd for anyone to think they can know who can win the presidency".
A bestselling author once known as "Oprah's spiritual adviser" due to her frequent appearances on Oprah Winfrey's talk show, Ms Williamson, 70, has backed progressive causes throughout her career, including anti-poverty campaigns and HIV/AIDS charities.
In 1998 she co-founded the Global Renaissance Alliance, later The Peace Alliance, a non-profit advocating for the creation of a US Department of Peace.
Ms Williamson ran for president in 2020, and initially polled high enough to be included in the first round of Democratic primary debates midway through 2019.
She made headlines during her campaign due to her overtly spiritual approach to politics, telling voters she would "harness love for political purposes" against Donald Trump's "dark psychic force".
She also told a debate audience her first call as president would be to then-New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern.
"[Ms Ardern] 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, and 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," she said.
Ms Williamson's campaign failed to gain momentum beyond those initial debates, and she dropped out in January 2020, a month before the Iowa caucuses which kicked off the primary season.
She later endorsed independent Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who finished second to Mr Biden after defeating him in the first three states.
ABC, with AP
