'I am not a cult leader': Marianne Williamson tries to clarify her beliefs ahead of Democratic debate

WASHINGTON – Author, activist, and Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson tweeted on Tuesday morning, "I am not a cult leader," hoping to dispel rumors about her professional past.

"I am not a cult leader. I am not anti-science (that one is almost funny, given how much I quote Einstein)," she wrote. "And I am not an anti-vaxxer." 

"Hoping that if I repeat it 3 to 4 times a day I might penetrate the field of lies created to keep some people out of the conversation," she added. 

Williamson's campaign did not respond to a request for comment about the tweet. 

Williamson had made a splash at her performance during the first Democratic presidential debate, where she scolded her fellow Democratic candidates for "having all these plans" when President Donald Trump "didn’t win by having a plan."

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After the debates, some Republicans urged donating to Williamson to keep her in the debates. She's scheduled to take the stage at the second Democratic presidential debate on July 30. 

Williamson's campaign has attempted to reframe how her campaign is viewed by the press and the general public. On June 25, before the first Democratic presidential debate, Williamson's campaign sent out a press release with guidance on how to refer to the candidate. The release specified that Williamson was a "best-selling author and activist" but not a "spiritual guru (or any type of guru)."  

Her campaign said in that release that before entering politics, Williamson had written 13 books, two of which had been about the intersection of spirituality and politics. 

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Some writers and internet users have accused Williamson of being linked to cults and the anti-vaccination movement. Williamson has denied the accusations.

For example, a July 2, 2019 Town and Country article was posted on Yahoo News with the headline "Inside the Cult of Marianne Williamson," though the original Town and Country headline did not use "cult." A 1992 Psychology Today article asked of Williamson, "is she just a new cult rising to horrifying heights of hypocrisy and vulgarity before crashing?"

After the first Democratic presidential debate, congressional candidate Brianna Wu accused Williamson in a tweet of being an "anti-vaxxer," which Williamson has repeatedly denied in tweets.