For the richest country in the world not to have universal health care, for
the richest country in the world not to have paid family leave.
For the richest country in the world, not to have tuition free colleges, and for
one reason only.
Because we have a corporate aristocracy where the insurance companies and
the pharmaceutical companies, the big food companies, the big chemical companies.
The big agricultural companies, the gun manufacturers, big oil and
defense contractors own this country.
And when you ask me what was different between now and four years ago,
I think it's how many people have awakened on the left and on the right.
To the fact that we have basically a form of corporate tyranny.
>> Democratic 2024 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson might
be treated as a joke by corporate media.
But they should be careful, because when it comes to TikTok,
man, she is blowing up.
Apparently, her videos with the kinds of messages that you just heard
in the video we showed you happen to be very appealing to the young TikTok users.
And she has grown an enormous following on TikTok as a result.
So, in just a moment,
we'll actually tell you just how popular she is on this platform.
And remember, when it comes to elections, young people are playing a bigger role.
They made all the difference in the midterm elections and could potentially
make all the difference in the upcoming presidential election in 2024.
First, let's play a few of her other clips, including some of her most
popular TikToks, so you can kind of get a feel of what her message is and
which messages tend to appeal to a younger audience.
>> Why do you wanna be president?
>> I want to be president because this country needs to make an economic U-turn.
And the system that affectuates and perpetuates that kind of income and
opportunity inequality is not changing itself.
Why is it that we don't have free college,
which we had here in the United States till the 1960s?
And by the way, when I was growing up, Blue Cross Blue Shield was a nonprofit.
Why don't we have what they have in every other advanced democracy?
As in free child care, as in paid family leave after the birth of a child,
as in guaranteed sick pay, as in a guaranteed livable wage.
They are not going to do this.
The President approved yesterday the Willow project,
which is a massive fossil fuel extraction plan in Alaska.
I would cancel that the first day.
I want universal health care like in every other advanced democracy.
And the president has said that he would veto a Medicare for
all bill if it came to his desk.
If people have universal health care, if people can go to college,
if we get rid of these college loan debts, if we have a higher minimum wage,
this will actually stimulate the economy.
>> Every message shared in that video I agree with.
>> Mm-hm.
>> Maybe the minute details of each policy might differ from what I would
prefer versus what she prefers.
I have to really sit down and read what proposal she's gonna push for.
But overall, I can totally understand why that video would
appeal to not just young voters, not just young TikTokers, but
anyone who has experienced the rig economic system in the United States.
>> Yeah, a lot of what you were hearing there sounds very similar to the sorts of
messages that Bernie Sanders would deliver.
Obviously, her delivery style is a little bit different.
It's snappy, which I like.
>> Yeah, I like it, too.
>> Which is good.
And remember, Bernie Sanders did really,
really well in the last go round of the Democratic primary.
So that sort of message, I think has an obvious audience.
We're four years later now, which means that people who were up
to four years too young to vote last time around are now in the system.
And we know how the generation is trending in terms of progressive politics.
So, I think it makes all the sense in the world.
I had her on my show.
We talked quite a bit.
It's obviously an incredibly difficult task to take on.
If Biden does run, that is as high of a political mountain to climb as anything.
But I think that she's doing a very good job.
>> I think she is, too.
And the Democratic establishment has kind of brushed her off.
And Karine Jean Pierre, during a White House press briefing,
was incredibly dismissive of her and mocked her.
And I really didn't like that.
I thought it was a bad look.
But getting back to Marianne Williamson, she seems to understand the importance of
engagement, and so she also addresses her viewers time to time.
Let's take a look at that.
>> I was at a drag show last night at East Tennessee University in protest of a bill,
an anti-drag show, anti-transgender, anti-LGBTQ,
IA plus bill that came down from the State House in Tennessee.
But which then got blocked by a judge for at least 14 days.
So that's good. So they're gonna have to revisit that.
Those kinds of changes happen because of the energy that people put out, and
that means you when it comes to this campaign.
Yesterday, an A rated 538 poll came out with us at 10%,
and that's kind of extraordinary.
And that is because of you, all of you who are telling your friends,
getting on social media, getting on TikTok, getting on Instagram,
doing all the things that you do.
More than anything I just wanna say thank you.
And my team told me that when I talk to you like this,
I should leave it to under a minute.
I made it two, [LAUGH] I don't even know how to talk for under a minute.
But I'm trying.
And truly, from my heart, thank you.
>> I feel sealed in that last bit.
I have the same problem.
>> No, don't worry, John, Marianne, if you want advice on how to be concise and
not speak over one minute, just talk to Cenk.
He's an expert at that.
Just kidding, why did I do a dirty.
>> [CROSSTALK] >> I know, I love you, Cenk.
Anyway, but let's get back to Marianne Williamson's popularity on TikTok,
because it is reflected in the numbers, John.
So, she's only posted 65 videos on TikTok, yet
has drawn more than 12 million views, according to TikTok data counter.
But there are also endless Marianne Stan accounts that post her speeches and
rack up massive numbers.
I wanna get to some more information regarding how much support she has from
young people in just a moment.
But before I do it, there was actually a moment on the Damage Report John,
during your interview with her, I wanted to highlight it.
I thought it was an important, no, it was a good moment.
>> Okay, good.
>> Yeah, because Francesca asked a really good question.
You were co-hosting with her that day as you two were interviewing her,
and I think Marianne Williamson's answer was a really good one.
So let's take a look at that.
>> I have a question, Marianne,
about how you defeat the right in this country when they are so
clearly, they believe themselves to be spiritually superior.
They believe themselves to be abiding by, I don't know,
whatever God told them to make women second class citizens.
Take away the abortion rights, demonize LGBTQ+ people,
demonize things like drag shows, pretend like you're helping
children when in fact, you're just dooming them even further.
We've got a pretty spiritually bankrupt opposition in this country.
How do you deal with a party that clearly was just never hugged enough as a child,
as a political strategy?
What do you do?
>> Well, to be honest, you don't say some of the things that you just said.
First of all, I'm not thinking in terms of defeating the right at this point.
I think that it's very difficult to wage an argument based on moral or spiritual
principles when you yourself act like you're too cool to have that conversation.
And I think that's been a problem on the left now for decades.
I don't want to defeat anyone.
I want to help arouse a new coalition of conscience,
as Martin Luther King would say.
People on the left and the right who are just done with that oppositional mentality
are done with the silos.
Who recognize that it's not the energy,
it's not the conversation that is going to take us where we need to be.
There are high minded, conservative principles.
There are high minded liberal principles.
Eisenhower always said that to be honest, it's true.
None of us has a monopoly on truth.
I'd like to help forge a new conversation.
I'm unabashedly progressive on my issues, there's no doubt about that.
But we need to have a new American conversation,
not just a new left conversation or a new right conversation.
People don't like to feel that you're trying to defeat them, but
people like to feel you're trying to inspire them.
>> I really like that answer, well,
I was trying to articulate in a fairly recent debate I had with Cenk.
Because I do think that there are voters, I'm not talking about
the Republican establishment or Republicans in positions of power, right?
I'm talking about ordinary Americans who tend to lean conservative or
vote as Republicans.
There are definitely issues we agree with them on.
There's agreement, especially on bread and butter issues.
And so I like her framing, because instead of being hateful or
combative toward ordinary Republican voters,
she's trying to inspire them with what she has to offer policy wise.
And I think that's a different approach.
I think that's an approach that Bernie Sanders used in 2016, and
it was successful to some extent.
And I like that she wants to move forward with that type of framing and
that strategy.
We'll see if it works.
But yeah, what are your thoughts?
>> I agree, I was thinking the same thing.
Bernie never attacks random conservatives or regular people or
whatever, even sometimes when maybe it's merited.
So I think that that's a good strategy.
I think it's obviously she was sort of critiquing Francesca there.
I go back and forth.
Even Cenk tries to be diplomatic sometimes,
and sometimes he's calling them knuckleheads.
>> Yeah, no, totally.
But he gets it,
I think most people who genuinely care about moving forward get it.
And look, I don't necessarily disagree with what Francesca said there, right?
Because it is true.
The obsession with doing away with rights for folks, doing away with the right for
people to live lives of dignity just because of what their gender identity is,
their sexual identity is like, it's wrong.
And I think it's right to call out the Republican Party for that.
At the same time, it's also important to remind them all these
scapegoats that your right-wing elites are pointing to for
all your issues are actually not the cause of all your issues.
This is all distraction.
It's meant to instill hatred in your heart.
So you're distracted from these Republican lawmakers helping corporations
rob you [LAUGH].
You get what I'm saying?
>> Yeah, and stuff.
>> It's really tough.
>> Yeah, it's a little bit harder for people like us who have to talk for
literally hours.
About a million different things while being constantly attacked
by the people that we're trying to appeal to and arouse, by the way.
I'm doing the best job I can, America, but I like the strategy.
Look, if it was up to me, Biden would announce in a month that he's pulling out.
Marianne Williamson would run.
A bunch of other people, including a bunch of other progressives would run.
They could battle it out.
I think that would be awesome.
That would be great for America, and I hope to see it.
>> So, finally, let's talk about how young people feel about
Marianne Williamson according to current polling.
Now, if you look at the broader population,
she has about 5% support in the polls.
>> Hey, Bernie was it like 3%.
>> [CROSSTALK] >> Cenk gets excited because she's pulling
at 5%, and I'm like, okay, but you're right.
She could build momentum that's a good thing.
But apparently no one takes you seriously until you pass that 5% threshold,
which I still don't see, corporate media taking her seriously.
The Democratic party thinks she's not a big deal, but
among young voters let's talk about that.
A recent poll found Marianne Williamson hovering above 20% with voters under 30,
far higher than she reached in the crowded 2020 field.
So there's that.
And she's aware of this phenomenon.
During a conversation with Ryan Grimm of the Intercept, she said this,
all these people would text me and say, my 17 year old loves you.
My 20 or 22 year old wants to know if she can have your email.
I don't wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and say, Hello, TikTok star.
>> I do [LAUGH].
>> Do you?
>> No. >> Okay, but
obviously I'm grateful that there is a platform,
that there is a venue where I'm seen and the message is received.
And it's true, if it weren't for TikTok,
it's not like she's being taken seriously by traditional media, by legacy media.
>> Well, they're gonna ignore a combination of a lot of them probably not
thinking that she's gonna make much of an impact and the rest thinking,
I don't want her to.
So we're just not gonna talk about her?
>> Yeah. >> Yeah.
>> Well, we will talk about her and we'll share her policy proposals with you
because it's important to give every candidate a fair shot.
I don't think that we need to automatically support Biden because he's
the incumbent, assuming he runs for re-election, which he shouldn't, but
nonetheless, he probably will.