Even Marianne Williamson knows she's a long shot for the Democratic nomination

After a short-lived presidential campaign in 2020, bestselling author and spiritual guru Marianne Williamson is back at it again. This time she's challenging President Biden for the 2024 Democratic nomination — and she's well aware her chances of victory are slim. Yahoo News explains why, despite seemingly insurmountable odds, Williamson is determined to stay in the race to deliver her message of peace and love.

Video Transcript

- Marianne Williamson is a best-selling author, self-styled spiritual guru, and next she'd like to be the president of the United States.

MARIANNE WILLIAMSON: I, as of today, am a candidate for the office of President of the United States.

- And yes, she's aware that's a long shot. She's running for the Democratic nomination against the sitting president and a guy who's got the same last name as some very, very popular Democrats from history.

But at the very least, she'd like to take the opportunity to spread her message on the campaign trail.

MARIANNE WILLIAMSON: We should have a humanitarian bottom line.

- Williamson started her political career in 2014 running as an independent for the US House of Representatives in California's 33rd district. Despite losing that race, she briefly ran for president in 2020 before endorsing now-Senator Bernie Sanders' campaign. This time around, she says her candidacy isn't so much a challenge to Biden as it is to the entire system.

MARIANNE WILLIAMSON: The status quo, ladies and gentlemen and everyone else, will not disrupt itself. That's our job.

- And though she doesn't always overtly make the connection, her presidential platform is firmly rooted in her background as a spiritual leader and advisor.

MARIANNE WILLIAMSON: As president, I would seek to make love one another, seek to do justice, to live with mercy, and to be humble before thy God.

- Advocating for things like peace, love and equality, and condemning hyper-capitalist principles she says have replaced humanitarian values.

MARIANNE WILLIAMSON: It is a sociopathic economic system. It is a sociopathic economic system.

- And she's put forward detailed plans on how she'd go about doing a lot of these things if she-- or anyone who agrees with her-- happens to become president. But here's the thing. While a Williamson nomination, let alone a Williamson administration, is a real long shot, her message does connect with a lot of people. And if this is the way she wants to share it, it's her right to do so.

MARIANNE WILLIAMSON: It's our turn. Let's do this.