On Thursday, Oprah’s spiritual advisor and bestselling author Marianne Williamson joined a debate with 2020 Democratic heavyweights like former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Mass.). Williamson definitely stood out in the debate, but not in a good way. It seems unlikely she will last long in the Democratic primary, so Saturday Night Live‘s Kate McKinnon rushed to get out an impression of Williamson on Thursday.
SNL’s McKinnon joked about the two nights of the first Democratic debate on Late Night With Seth Meyers.
She mentioned Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — who appeared in the first night of debates and was the top polling candidate in the first round. While that first night of debates was comparatively calm and civil, the second night of debates featured many fiery attacks between heavyweights. McKinnon, who has done impressions of Warren, said, “She looked like a girl on her wedding day when everyone who ever bullied her was getting a divorce.”
Turning to Marianne Williamson, host Seth Meyers said, “She might not make it to the fall. The window for Marianne Williamson impressions might be closing fast.” The SNL star said she wished there could be an episode of SNL this week.
“She was a shining comet,” McKinnon quipped.
Then the SNL star broke into her hilarious impression of the candidate.
“I’ve heard a lot of plans here tonight, and if we think plans are going to beat Donald Trump, we’ve got another thing coming. My plan is to gather all the sage in America and burn it,” she said, with her eyes wide open as if she were high on peyote. “My plan is to harness the energy of babies to finally put a man on the Moon. And I said to the president of New Zealand, ‘Girlfriend, you’re so on,’ and I would say to Donald Trump, ‘Boyfriend you chill.’ Thank you.”
This impression wasn’t just spot on — it featured direct quotes and paraphrases from the candidate herself.
Responding to a question on health care, Williamson said, “I’ll tell you one thing: It’s really nice if we’ve got all these plans. But if you think we’re going to beat Donald Trump by just having all these plans, you’ve got another thing coming. Because he didn’t win by saying he got a plan. He won by simply saying ‘Make America Great Again.'” She called health care policy “superficial fixes.”
She also attacked the idea of plans by praising John F. Kennedy.
“John Kennedy did not say, ‘I have a plan to get a man to the Moon,'” she argued. “John Kennedy said, ‘By the end of this decade, we’re going to put a man on the Moon.’ Because John Kennedy was back in the day when politics included the people, and included imagination, and included great dreams, and included great plans. And I have had a career not making the political plans but I have had a career harnessing the inspiration and the motivation and the excitement of people, masses of people.”
Finally, she argued that Trump would not be beaten by “insider politics talk.”
“This man has reached into the psyche of the American people and he has harnessed fear for political purposes,” Williamson said. Addressing Trump directly, she added, “You have harnessed fear for political purposes and only love can cast that out. So I sir, I have a feeling you know what you’re doing. I’m going to harness love for political purposes. I will meet you on that field, and sir, love will win.”
While many candidates focused on setting a vision and presenting policy plans, distinguishing themselves from other candidates, Williamson essentially said she would adopt every plan presented by her Democratic opponents (despite the fact they contradict in key areas), and her focus would be emotional, psychic, spiritual. While the New Age guru can certainly deliver a sound bite or two, Democratic donors are looking for a candidate who can speak movingly and present a clear policy agenda.
As the campaign wears on and money becomes necessary for staying power, Williamson is likely to fall on hard times. Seth Meyers is right — she’s unlikely to make it to the fall.
Follow Tyler O’Neil, the author of this article, on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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