Former Democratic presidential nominee and self-help guru Marianne Williamson has officially endorsed Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for president, according to CNN . Williamson — who dropped out of the race on January 10 — made the declaration in a surprise appearance at one of the self-described democratic socialist’s rallies in Austin, Texas, on Sunday night.
The endorsement comes after Sanders won a commanding majority in the latest primary of Nevada, cementing his frontrunner status in the Democratic party.
“Bernie Sanders has taken a stand, and Bernie Sanders has been taking a stand for a very long time. He has been consistent, he has been convicted, he has been committed. And now it’s time, I’m here and you’re here, because it’s time for us to take a stand with Bernie,” Williamson told the large crowd.
The author then addressed the criticisms that Sanders would be a weak rival against incumbent President Trump.
“We’re being told oh, it can’t happen. He can’t beat Trump. Bernie can’t beat Trump, it can’t happen,” Williamson said.
“I’ll tell you what’s already happened to those who say it cannot happen. You just tell them this. It already happened. He won Iowa. It already happened, he won New Hampshire. It already happened, he won Nevada,” she declared.
It is not entirely surprising that Williamson would choose to support Sanders as the two had many similarities in their policy positions. Examples include favoring the Green New Deal, rallying against economic inequality, and promising student loan forgiveness. In addition, the self-help author had supported Sanders back in 2015 during his first attempt to win the Democratic nomination from eventual candidate Hillary Clinton.
That said, Williamson had previously campaigned for New York entrepreneur Andrew Yang in Iowa, though she did not give him an official endorsement. Yang ended up dropping out of the race after acknowledging no path to victory after New Hampshire.
Williamson’s latest seal of approval helps the Sanders campaign go from strength to strength as both the South Carolina primary and the numerous Super Tuesday elections approach. Moreover, her announcement had the author trending on Twitter with over 20,000 tweets about the decision.
The backing can also help offset a growing number of endorsements for former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The billionaire recently boasted support from famous faces such as Michael Douglass (via The Daily Mail ) as well as Judge Judy, who went so far as to claim she would fight Bernie Sanders’s revolution “to the death,” as was previously reported by The Inquisitr .
