US 2020 election: Who is Democratic candidate Marianne Williamson and what are her policies?

Self-help guru and US presidential candidate Marianne Williamson raised eyebrows at the second Democratic debate on Thursday night, not least for the way in which she bizarrely struck out at New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Ms Williamson claimed her first act in the Oval Office would be to call Ms Ardern and "tell her, ‘girlfriend you are so wrong’, because the United States of America is going to be the best place in the world for a child to grow up”, taking issue with the high-profile leader expressing a similar wish for her own country.

Despite previously receiving political backing from Kim Kardashian and Oprah Winfrey, Ms Williamson admitted struggling to get her message across during a relatively lacklustre performance in the rest of the debate.

But she quickly became the most searched for candidate on Google, as her previous social media posts emerged heavily referencing “love”, “soul” and laden with spiritual metaphors.

So who exactly is the Marianne Williamson?

Ms Williamson was born in Houston, Texas in 1952, and was raised in a conservative Jewish family.

She studied acting and engaged in anti-war activism at California’s Pomona College for two years before dropping out and moving to New York, where she spent a “lost decade“ working as a cabaret singer, allegedly surrounded by “bad boys and good dope”.

It was while living in New York that she first came across A Course in Miracles, a book written by Helen Schucman, who claimed to have merely transcribed every word of the book according to an inner voice she took to be that of Jesus Christ.

This tome became central to Ms Williamson’s own philosophy, and she later helped bring it to prominence during an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show, to whom she has advised since the mid-Nineties.

“A Course in Miracles helped me access something on a much deeper level than I ever had before,” she told EW in 1992, ”but I’ll refer to Buddhism, Jung, Abe Lincoln, Gandhi, Star Wars — you can find truth anywhere.”

After a short stint running a spiritual bookshop at home in Houston, Ms Williamson moved to Los Angeles, where she lived while hosting lectures on Ms Schucman’s book and founded centres for counselling and food aid in response to the HIV/AIDS crisis.

In 1992, she published her first book – A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles, and began to develop a large following, particularly among the LGBT+ community whom she helped in her social work.

Since then, Ms Williamson, has written 13 books, four of which have topped the New York Times bestseller list in the “Advice, How To and Miscellaneous” category.

During this period, she also founded the Peace Alliance, an advocacy group which builds support for peaceful foreign policy, and sat on the board of directors for poverty alleviation charity, RESULTS.

Is this her first time in politics?

No, although she has never been an elected politician.

In 2014, she ran for US Congress as an independent for California's 33rd District.

Despite high-profile support from the likes of Kim Kardashian, Oprah and having her campaign song written by Alanis Morissette, she ultimately came fourth in the polls.

Ted Lieu won the seat.

Her campaign announced on 9 May 2019 that Ms Williamson received sufficient contributions from unique donors to enter the official primary debates – $1.5 million (£1.18 million) – from nearly 50,000 individuals.

What are her policies?

Throughout her career, Ms Williamson has never shied away from airing her views on any given subject of national or foreign debate.

Her prior activism work also gives strong clues as to her politics.

“A Williamson administration’s foreign policy will be guided more by soul force than brute force, waging peace and not simply preparing for war,” she wrote on Twitter.

In Israel and Palestine, in particular, she advocates for building peace “on the level of the heart”, as opposed to “settlements and checkpoints”.

She supports reparations to the descendants of slaves, and has suggested putting £200bn into a fund called the Reparations Plan For African Americans.

Notably, she is also an advocate of the Green New Deal, proposed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and supports free college education – both radical policies in terms of US politics.

She is also in favour of increasing access to abortions, gun reform, and creating a path to citizenship for undocumented migrants.

What has she done in the race so far?

Ms Williamson has had little chance to make her mark, save for during the first two presidential debates.

She spoke to The Independent following Thursday night's debate, admitting that while she struggled to have her voice heard during the debate, that she remained committed to spreading her message.

In order to "defeat" Donald Trump, she said "we have to harness our love for each other and the world. Love is to fear what light is to dark."

Ms Williamson was roundly mocked on social media following her comments about Jacinda Ardern, who is yet to respond to the remarks.

Does she stand a chance?

Not particularly.

If Ms Williamson were to sweep to victory, she would become the United States’ first female and first Jewish president.

However, she faces substantial hurdles along the way.

Eleven other Democratic candidates are vying for the party nomination, with Ms Williamson currently a relative outsider.

Several bookies currently place the odds of her becoming US president at 100/1.

Despite the recent surge in interest in Ms Williamson, it seems unlikely to translate into political currency.