在2024年和2020年初选中与总统乔·拜登竞争的作家兼议长玛丽安娜·威廉森周二晚上对拜登的竞选和担任总司令的能力发出了警告，因为人们对他的年龄和认知健康感到担忧。
威廉姆森在接受美国广播公司新闻直播(ABC News Live)采访时，抨击民主党领导层在本月早些时候与2024年的对手唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)进行政治灾难性的辩论后支持拜登。
“我认为民主党领导层完全低估了美国人因其懦弱和虚伪而感到的厌恶程度。你知道，这个问题不仅仅是危机;这是危机管理。他们在危机管理方面也失败了，”威廉姆森告诉菲利普斯。
威廉姆森说，众议院和参议院的民主党领导人应该推动变革。
“如果[拜登]不想放弃这些代表，他没有必要这么做。这叫做干预。它被称为哈基姆·杰弗里斯和参议员舒默以及其他任何人走进总统、第一夫人和亨特的房间，说，这必须停止。你在拿我们11月的胜利冒险，”威廉姆森说。
虽然领导层表示他们支持拜登，但自摊牌以来，七名众议院民主党人公开呼吁总统退出竞选，尽管有关他健康和精神敏锐度的更多信息已经浮出水面。
新泽西州众议员米基·谢里尔(Mikie Sherrill)周二加入了劳尔·格里瓦亚(Raúl Grivalja)、劳埃德·道吉特(Lloyd Doggett)、迈克·奎格利(Mike Quigley)、塞思·莫尔顿(Seth Williams)和安吉·克雷格(Angie Craig)的行列，呼吁拜登退出竞选。十几名参议员和40多名众议员公开宣布支持拜登。
总统初选周期于6月结束，拜登赢得了超过99%的民主党代表。威廉姆森在这个选举周期的大多数州和地区的选票上，尽管她候选资格的短暂中止在二月份，不久后他又回到了竞选中。
她在初选周期结束时表示，她不再是该党提名的候选人，因为2024年总统候选人初选已经结束。威廉姆森是本周期第一个参加初选的民主党人，她于2023年2月宣布参选。
“我已经挑战他一年半了，我明白这些人为什么害怕。这群人很难对付。这群人太邪恶了。这群人抹黑。他们撒谎，他们压制候选人。民主党中当选的政治家知道他们——他们听到了警告;他们听到了威胁，他们知道这是真的，”威廉姆森说。
当她还是候选人时，威廉姆森很少讨论拜登的年龄。辩论后的几周里，她一直在大声敦促他下台。
“我开始对他的这一切感到很同情。这一定是一次非常丢脸的经历。...现在发生的事情不值得尊重。没有一个人是不可或缺的，”威廉姆森周二表示。
“我们不仅被问到:总统能处理好接下来四个月的竞选吗?美国选民有理由问:他能应付接下来的四年总统任期吗?”我们听到他很坚强在“早安乔”节目中前几天。但是美国总统不可能偶尔强势。她补充道:“美国总统不可能时不时地处于自己的最高水平。
副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯、加利福尼亚州州长加文·纽瑟姆、密歇根州州长格雷琴·惠特默和伊利诺伊州州长JB Pritzker等党内领导人都热情支持拜登在2024年的竞选中名列前茅。周二，威廉姆森推理说，那些被认为有可能取代拜登的其他民主党人正在考虑他们自己的政治未来，而不是现在挑战拜登。
“因为他们自己玩世不恭的算计，他们自己对自己事业的野心，他们不会站在原则上，站在自己知道的东西上。他们期待美国人民把白宫的钥匙交给他们，而不仅仅是白宫。
“我们现在冒着众议院和参议院的风险，不仅因为总统可能会拖累一切，”她补充说。
Marianne Williamson blasts top Democrats amid concerns over Biden's age, cognitive health
Marianne Williamson, the author and speaker who ran against President Joe Biden in the 2024 and 2020 primaries, sounded the alarm Tuesday evening over Biden’s ability to campaign and serve as commander-in-chief amid concerns over his age and cognitive health.
In an interview with Kyra Phillips on ABC News Live, Williamson slammed Democratic leadership for backing Biden after his politically disastrous debate against 2024 opponent Donald Trump earlier this month.
"I think the Democratic leadership completely underestimates the level of disgust that Americans are feeling due to their cowardice, due to their hypocrisy. You know, the issue is not just crisis; it's crisis management. And they are failing at crisis management," Williamson told Phillips.
Williamson said the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate should push for change.
"If [Biden] doesn't want to give up the delegates, he doesn't have to. It's called an intervention. It's called Hakeem Jeffries and Senator Schumer and whomever else walking into a room with the president, with the First Lady, with Hunter – whomever – and saying, this has got to stop. You are risking our victory in November," Williamson said.
While leadership has said they’re with Biden, seven House Democrats have publicly called on the president to step down from the ticket since the showdown, even as additional information over his health and mental acuity has surfaced.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey on Tuesday joined Reps. Raúl Grivalja, Lloyd Doggett, Mike Quigley, Seth Moulton and Angie Craig in calling for Biden to withdraw from the race. Over a dozen senators and over 40 House members have publicly declared their support for Biden.
The presidential primary cycle concluded in June, with Biden earning over 99% of the Democratic delegates. Williamson was on the ballot in most states and territories this election cycle, notwithstanding abrief suspension of her candidacyin February before shortly jumping back into the race.
She said at the end of the primary cycle that she was no longer a candidate for the party's nomination because the 2024 presidential preference contests had ended. Williamson was the first Democrat to jump in the primary this cycle, announcing her candidacy in February 2023.
"I've been challenging him for a year and a half, and I understand why these people are afraid. This crowd is tough. This crowd is vicious. This crowd smears. They lie, they suppress candidacies. And the elected politicians in the Democratic Party know they're – they’re hearing the warning; they're hearing the threat, and they know that it's true," Williamson said.
While she was a candidate, Williamson seldom discussed Biden’s age. In the weeks since the debate, she has been vocal in urging him to step down.
"I started all this feeling a lot of compassion for him. This had to have been a very humiliating experience. ... What is happening now is not deserving of respect. No one person is indispensable," Williamson said on Tuesday.
"We're not only being asked: can the president handle the next four months of the campaign? It is reasonable for the American voter to ask: can he handle the next four years of the presidency?" We heard him be strongon ‘Morning Joe’the other day. But the president of the United States can't be episodically strong. The president of the United States cannot be episodically on top of his game," she added.
Party leaders like Vice President Kamala Harris, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker have all been ardent in their support for Biden at the top of the ticket in 2024. On Tuesday, Williamson reasoned that those other Democrats who have been floated as possibilities to replace Biden were considering their own political futures rather than challenging Biden now.
"Because of their own cynical calculations, their own ambitions for their own careers, they won't stand on principle and stand on what they know. And they expect the American people to turn the keys to the White House over to them, not just the White House," Williamson said.
"We're now risking the House and the Senate, not only because the president could drag everything down," she added.
