Marianne Williamson announced she will be throwing her support behind Andrew Yang in the upcoming Iowa caucuses, saying he brings much-needed “self-confidence, levity and positivity” to the 2020 presidential race.
Williamson, who ended her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination earlier this month, said in a series of Instagram posts that she admires Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) but believes Yang needs her help in the race more “right now.”
“Bernie and Elizabeth will make it past Iowa and beyond,” Williamson wrote. “I’m lending my support to Andrew in Iowa, hopefully to help him get past the early primaries & remind us not to take ourselves too seriously. We need that this year. We need to lighten up on a personal level, because the moment is so serious on a political level.”
Williamson, a self-help author, noted that she isn’t endorsing any specific candidate yet.
“What I’m endorsing are issues; and the most important one now is a psychological issue – which candidate will make the strongest emotional connection with the American electorate,” Williamson wrote.
“Andrew’s personality is like a tuning fork realigning us with something we need to retrieve, taking us back to a more innocent time, making us remember to chuckle,” she added. “Andrew is light in tone, but he is deep in substance.”
In a statement to HuffPost, Yang’s campaign expressed gratitude for Williamson’s support and advocacy.
“We are thankful for Marianne Williamson’s kind words,” said S.Y. Lee, national press secretary for Yang’s campaign. “Her tireless efforts as an advocate to end poverty, her support of the Freedom Dividend, and her voice for peace in a world where strife is abounds were valuable to the democratic primary process.”
The Iowa caucuses, which have historically proven to be a strong predictor of who will receive a party’s nomination, will take place Feb. 3.
A Monmouth University poll released last week showed former Vice President Joe Biden leading the pack of Democratic candidates in Iowa, with 24% of likely Democratic voters supporting him. His three closest rivals were Sanders with 18% support, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg with 17% and Warren with 15%.
The same poll found Yang with 3% support from likely Democratic voters.