Marianne Williamson, a former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, said on Wednesday that using “purity testing” in candidate endorsements is “immature” as the country prepares for the upcoming 2022 midterms.
During a Wednesday appearance on Hill.TV’s “Rising,” Ryan Grim, the Washington, D.C., bureau chief of The Intercept, asked Williamson about her thoughts on the idea of a “purity test” — where candidates have to support certain positions or take certain actions in order to get the endorsement of a group or person.
“I mean, so how do you feel about those types of questions where you agree with somebody on almost everything, but there’s one issue where for whether it’s for political reasons, or ideological reasons, they’re not with you on that particular thing?” Grim asked Williamson.
“I think that purity testing is immature, both psychologically and politically. I think that there are visions with which you do not compromise, but politics is the art of compromise. It’s a life principle,” Williamson replied. “Not everybody who is your ally or your companion or your friend is someone who’s going to agree with you about everything.”
The former presidential hopeful added that purity testing would be “detrimental to any serious left wing force in the United States.”
Williamson’s comments come ahead of a planned announcement later on Wednesday in which she will reveal some of the candidates she is endorsing for Congress.
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