looked at the house republican approved -- mark zandi and others testified. watch that tonight at eight eastern on c-span, also on c-span now or online at c-span now work -- c-span.org. the 118 congress has -- some of the interviews will bring you -- we will bring you tonight include and i went congressman. that begins at 8 p.m. eastern on c-span two and you can watch all the freshman interviews online at c-span.org and don't forget to download our free video app c-span now. watch video on demand anytime online at c-span.org and try our point of interest feature.

use points of interest anytime online at c-span.org. >> c-span is a unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies, including mediacom. >> you should have access to fast reliable internet and that is why we are leading the way. >> mediacom support c-span as a public service along with these other television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> at our table this morning, marion williamson, presidential candidate, thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> this is your second presidential bid, why are you running? guest: i feel the u.s. needs to

make an economic u-turn. polls show the country is moving in a wrong direction. the people are correct. the whole radicalism in a way is that people direct things and now things are directed not so much by the people as by corporate donors and corporate huge entities of corporate wealth and determine the path so the people need to turn things around. host: are you getting the people to support you financially? guest: i am. i am in their. campaign is a big job interview -- a campaign is a big job interview and you are presenting yourself to the people in your agenda and you're letting people know this is what i would do and i was given the job -- if i was given the job. the problem we have right now are the forces that seek to limit the voices that are

presented to the people and that is why it is important the democratic party allows debates so voters can recognize there are three candidates and american people should have as wide a array of options as possible. they had simply decided that joe biden is the nominee. that is not democracy. a party that has should -- that should be and has been traditionally a champion of democracy should not be wary of the democratic process in our own house. what is your strategy -- host: what is your strategy? where are you in your party and have you keep pace in this race? guest: the parties are not even mentioned in the constitution. the people are the authority and i am sitting in the race and talking to the people. a lot of the conversation with people is online, various online

platforms. there are those early planning -- primary states. you go out there. that is the american way. host: you are popular on tiktok. explain your strategy. guest: it is interesting to use the word strategy. look at donald trump when he won, did he have a strategy or did he just hit a nerve? that is my brain strategy, telling truth and i think i am saying a lot of things that everyone says but if you -- but few people say them in public and that is that we are not at the moment functioning at -- as a government for the people, by the people. lincoln said the man -- men who died on the battlefield -- so a government of the people, by the people, and for the people were not perished on the earth.

it is perishing now. for all intents and purposes, a government of the corporations and by the corporations and for the corporations. our congress is little more than a system of legalized bribery where legislator after legislative in the final analysis, does more to answer the goals of the corporate donors been to the people of the u.s. -- van to the people of the u.s. --than to the youth -- the people of the u.s. the people know this. we have 39% of the american people who now report that they skip meals in order to pay rent. that number goes up to 44% among millennials. one third of americans are living economically unstable lives.

when a -- one in four americans are living with medical debt and we have the highest poverty rates of any country in the world. half of our seniors are living on less than $25,000 a year. a third of our workers living on less than $50 an hour and not having a place to live -- $15 an hour and not having a place to do -- live. host: what would you do? guest: we have to have an economic u-turn in the country. any to recognize the rights that hold together economic stability that are granted to the citizens of every other advanced democracy should be granted to americans, such as universal health care and tuition free college that we had in the country until the 1960's. such apps -- such as free health care. those are the pillars they should be seen as the main

organs that provide people with the ability to thrive, not just survive, an unjust system. host: that platform sounds like president biden's platform. why would you be different? guest: i would admit that if we had gotten big bet -- if we got build back better, that would be amazing but we didn't end there are things the president could do. -- but we didn't and there are things the president we -- could do. it came time to put in a bill. you know what stopped it, the parliamentarian. we allowed us to be stopped by them because it was convenient to do so. the president approved the willow project. he has given more oil drilling permits then trump did. the president is a nice man.

i have serious disagreements with the president about fundamental things as whether or not we guarantee this will be a habitable climate in 100 years. host: let's get to calls. connie in florida. independent color. -- caller. caller: i am a longtime student of the core and i studied several decades. i want to know how your political ambitions aligned with the teachings of the course. guest: i think of myself as radically american. the financial -- foundational principles included in our declaration of independence, are deeply spiritual and humanity -- humanitarian. our principles are all men are created equal, number two, god gave all men of unalienable

rights of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness. if in fact, governments are instituted, our government is instituted in order to secure those rights of life and liberty and the pursuit that means we must pursue justice. we do not have environmental or economic justice. we do not have criminal or racial justice in the country we should have. it is outrageous that we have hungry children in this country. you asked about the president. the democrats, the corporate and leadership establishment democrats like to brag about the fact that with the child tax credit, they cut child property in half. that is good. what happened there is that it expired that -- it expired in

six months. that is mean -- what love is. you remove the economic shackles that so many people live in this country. the chains of economic debt and anxiety and economic despair, the majority of americans live under, it is a loving thing to remove those shackles and that is the humanitarian principle that should replace the greedy and soulless economic line that governs our country. host: democratic color. good morning. caller: thank you for c-span. you are never going to owe -- get elected talking about love. god bless you. i agree with most or all of your positions. one cannot speak from weakness,

that is not what voters will go through --for. one cannot speak from hoity-toity abstract language. you need to talk plain talk, plain english. unfortunately, in today's world, i got electron, he is a shocked job -- world, a guy like drop -- trump, he is a shock jock. host: what kind of plain talk the you want to hear? guest: -- caller: everything is plain talk. we have to get away from subjects that are weak. all of these things, the immigration, we need to get strong on the border, just like the republicans, the way they talk strong. you have to talk strong.

host: marianne williamson. guest: i talked about love because the last color asked me about it. the fierce woman -- mother who loves to take care of the children, -- i would argue that fake bully nonsense, toxic masculine way of looking at the world has gotten us to where we are and i would suggest that is not the way -- anything else is not the way to get elected. well, that is not the way to prepare -- repair this country. the fact that i am offering something alternative to the sophomoric lens, that is a good thing. this country elected linking -- lincoln. this is not a time to think like seven raters. --graders.

if you have any two americans that's all, we are a decent people. we get real. when it comes to our public conversation in our political conversation, we go into the sophomoric -- excuse me if that is too big of a work for anyone, this -- we go to the childers slogans -- the child is -- the childish slogans. i think people already -- already for a conversation --are ready for conversation on what is true in our hearts. we are governed by an economic system that is always, that puts short-term profits for huge entities before the health and well-being of our people and planet. this is unsustainable and morally and spiritually wall --

wrong. we must change this. host: let's go to colorado. republican caller. caller: good morning. i am a republican. that doesn't mean i would not vote for you as your campaign. i would like to ask you a constitutional question. you mentioned earlier that the parties were not mentioned in the constitution. when ben franklin was around, he was asked a question about the republican and what kind of government we would head and he responded by saying that republic is when you can keep it. i would also ask, maybe read a book about article four, section four in the constitution and that says the united states shall guarantee to every state in the union a republican form of government.

to me, a republican form of government is a representative form of government and i wish you good luck in your campaign. guest: thank you. i agree with the things you said and i point out that president eisenhower said the american mind at its best is liberal and conservative. a free society is not one in which all of us see everything the same way at every time or has to so the interplay, the realization that no one has a monopoly on truth and everyone has good ideas to offer, we need to get back to that. there are high-minded conservative values and emphatic values. we are a republican form of government. we are a democracy and a representative democracy. that constant interplay between federal power and state power, i think was hamilton who said that the states are the laboratory of reform. that was played out, that

conversation was established in the constitution and we are playing that out in our lives today. i appreciate your open-mindednes s and i want to point out the business of parties not being mentioned in the constitution. george washington warned about this. he said men back -- that -- can become people who care more about their factions than their country. we need to stop filtering our thoughts and behavior only through political parties. we need to become consistently devoted to elements, and the principles of the declaration of independence that matter to us. host: gabriel in carnegie, pennsylvania, independent. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. guest: thank you. caller: i have two quick questions and there are 500 of

us watching on twitch. how can you force biting --biden to debate with you and if you were to get elected, all of the special interest would call all of the politicians they own and they will make sure no one would work with you. how do you think you can actually move your agenda if you were to get elected? thank you so much. guest: that is an excellent and legitimate question. your first question, i cannot force the president to debate me. robert kennedy junior and i are quite vocal about challenging the president to a debate, pointing out that this is a democracy. people should have as wide an array of options as possible, vertically those of us who do wish feet -- to see a democrat win in 2024.

we should have a conversation about who is the best candidate. what is the personality and the energy level and what is the agenda that would in fact be the strongest opponent for 2024? this business of the dnc dictating the process, it reminds me of 100 years ago where a bunch of men sat around a table deciding for the nomination should be. the primary voters should decide and i can't force it but you and everyone listening everyone who cares about this principle of democracy can be raising their voices. polls show the majority of democrats want to hear what the other options are. the second question you asked is legitimate. no matter who the president is, that president is hoping that they have a party that will help work with him or her. let's not forget, no matter what, even if you don't have a

house that is willing to work with you arsenic that is willing to work with you, the president have to wield his power. the president does not have a magic wand but the president can produce an executive order. the cbo says we could cut $1 trillion over the next decade from our military budget and be fine. the senate could you rally -- unilaterally begin to cut basis. there is so much executive -- the president could do by executive orders. he fit the satchel -- he could be schedule marijuana from -- deschedule marijuana as a schedule one drug. let's not get --kid ourselves,

the president has a lot of power. i would be saying the truth to people. this is a time where we need radical truth telling. we have serious lies that have been fostered and the answers to that is to tell serious truth. this country has reckoned with serious mistakes made in the past. we need to take a good look in the mirror, where are we not living the principles we say we are and that is what will get us to the underside -- other side. i have helped people in organizations and transform chaos. -- transformed chaos. i believe if people see the idea of me being president as saying, this is not a bad idea. we have to begin an entirely new era of citizenship in the country. many of us have that, i will vote every two years.

i will shop for the progressive elections and the present -- i will show up for the progressive elections and the presidential. that is not enough. corporate libraries -- corporate lobbyists are in the offices every day. we need a new era of citizenship. we need people who begin to see our civic activism as part of a meaningful and well lived life. if people support my campaign, you need to get involved in the congressional election in your diction -- district, senatorial elections happening, and you have to get involved on the level of primary so that i am delivered the kind of legislators who play ball with me. host: support for your campaign and debate, in 2020, the criteria to get on the debate

stage, there were two of them. breaking 1% in three poles from posters approved by the dnc or tallying 55,000 unique campaign donors. when you meet those two criteria is now -- would you meet those two criteria's now? guest: i don't know. i would in terms of paul's -- polls. who knows what they would say, you have to do to get into debates today. hopefully, the voices of the people will be loud enough and there will be enough public pressure and the dnc will give in on that. host: ramona. , credit color -- democratic caller. caller: i am an american indian and i would like to know, i work

for my money. i hope the republicans do not approve the debt ceiling because if i lose my check because of that, i will be glad because we will vote them out so what do feel about social security? guest: it should not be touched and we need to remove the cap entirely. we need to not touch social security. do you understand how the debt ceiling question, she is afraid that if we take it back, she would get less than social security? host: i think she is concerned about social security disability, the program. guest: the democrats need to hold stronger --strong there. if i am president, no one will

touch the social security and we need to raise the cap so everyone pays into it. host: adrian, your next. independent. caller: high. --hi. i am watching with 500 people on twitch. do you support right to repair or ending amas? guest: rural plans. rural americans have been neglected. i was in a small town in south carolina during this last campaign and the mayor said something that impacted me and stayed with me. he said there are many people in this country. they cannot afford to have their lives on the coast.

i have everything they could possibly want. in order to start over and raise a family. he said what has happened, i don't have the roads i need to attract them. i don't have the sewage system i need or the grid or the schools. he set before the 1980's, we had small banks and the small things catered to the -- small banks cater to the rural farmers. the local bank will say, i understand. we will come back and we will carry this forward and he will pay us next year. what started to happen in the 1980's was this huge monopolization of everything. many of the smaller banks were replaced by huge banks and the huge banks were hacking -- acting in service to huge agricultural countries -- companies. before that, there was small banks and attention on the small armor. the u.s. government would not only give loans but the ones that were given to the

municipalities came along with grants. we have gotten rid of that for big banks and big ag. i would change that. host: let's go to rhonda. caller: good morning ms. williamson. it is an honor to speak with you. i love you. i watch you on youtube and i will love -- would love to see a women --woman run for the highest office in the land because women have compassion. we live on budgets. what is upsetting to me the most about the republican party here is i would not vote for a republican if they were a dogcatcher. that is how much they have frozen themselves with the

donald trump administration. i am terrified where our country is headed now that they have ron desantis there, who is trying to erase black history from our country. this man is crazy. he has donald trump on steroids. he -- is a copycat with no personality at all. what i love about women is that we have been reversed, 50 years in this democracy, with a republican rule -- with the republican rule. now that they have a congress, there is no immigration reform they are putting forward. the airplane -- blaming joe biden for everything they have done to this country. to think that he thinks this way

about me, black people, betty -- that it is ok to kill a black boy and crushed his face in? this is the republican party. they are fascists. we have to stop those people. host: all right. guest: there are neofascists elements there. i don't think that is the entirety of the republican party so i think we all move back a little bit and have some mercy and compassion, recognition that i do believe the majority of this country -- majority of people in this country already sent. martin luther king said you have very little barley persuasive power with people who can fill your underlying contempt. the six-week ban on abortion, many women don't even know they are present at six weeks. -- are pregnant at six-week.

the average american does not realize hundred people are forced to remain in undocumented states will have lived here for years and paid taxes -- pay taxes. ron desantis trying to tell colleges what courses they can teach and trying to repress black history. i am concerned about these things. that is why i should be the democratic nominee -- roosevelt said you don't have to worry about a fascist or communist takeover in this country as long as democracy delivers on its promises. it is not just a disease of neo-fashion is -- neo-fascism. we are being attacked on the outside by authoritarianism but we are eroding from the inside

by this economic principle of trickle-down that has weakened people's lives. the best way to defeat the republicans in 2024 is with the economic u-turn that i have mentioned, by offering to the american people universal health care, free college, cancellation of the college loan debt. free text schools --tech schools. guaranteed paid leave and guaranteed livable wage. this is the way to defeat the fascists, not by incremental changes. for many governmental changes being offered by the democrat establishment, we are trying to tell people the economy is doing well? 20% of the american people are thriving in today's economy and that 20%, it is like we live on an island that is surrounded by a sea of economic despair.

we cannot win in 2024 by saying, we give you a little bit here. we will win by saying, we want to do more. we want to do more than help you survive an interest -- unjust economic system. we want to end the system of injustice. host: how will you measure success? what are your milestones that you need to reach to stay in the race? guest: i am aware that what i am saying is what is aligned with polls. the american people are left of center. they want universal health care. the positions i speak to our moderate positions in every other advanced democracy.

the people are another problem. the issue is getting to the people. there is in this country what i call a political media industrial complex. there is a lot of mainstream media that conspires with the political elites in this country to make it difficult for people to hear me, to be on some of the programs you think i would be on given that i am a clear candidate for president of the u.s. the young people are online and i think those who are watching the on switch and all these other alternative platforms. thank you for doing so. help me spread the word. donate if you can, even three dollars. we have to get the message out there ourselves because the message resonates with the declared attitude of the majority of people of exactly the messages that are most suppressed. we need to wake up to this and realize that we haven't played

my political elites -- we have been played by political elites and if we want to change things, we have to get in there. of course they say that anyone likes other ideas is a little crazy. of course they would say that. we need to see through that and step in their. if you look at appellation -- abolition and the civil rights movement. base things came from the people -- these things came from the people and the party picked them up. it is time to do what other generations have done. that is why we push back on undemocratic forces. host: what kind of reaction do you see on tictac? --tiktok? guest: these people were not even born in the 21st century -- 20th century. they do not see why they should

have to live their lives at the effect of that economic progress -- prophecy? they can go to college and tech schools. they don't have any institutional memory of a time where either major political party had their back and they are interested in caring for someone who would -- in hearing from someone who would. host: robert, an independent. your next -- you are next. caller: good morning to c-span and ms. williamson. i wanted to know -- you mentioned george washington, his farewell address. your stock went up in my book. i believe there is a growing

anti-former movement in the u.s.. people are getting sick and fed up of both parties. which you were to -- arrive -- -- would you work to eradicate political starting -- parties in the united states? what we have is a two party journey. -- tyranny. guest: it is called a corporate wobbly -- duopoly. i don't think it is appropriate use of a president to eradicate political parties. if you look at the history of the united states, third-party forces have been important. women suffrage came from the women's party. civil rights came from the southern christian leadership conference.

social security came from the socialist party. what has happened in the last few decades is that democrats and republicans have formed an unholy alliance that makes it difficult for third-party voices to share their ideas which often are good ideas and need to be in the mix. the american people are registering their dissatisfaction that i don't think american people are ready to vote that dissatisfaction because people are afraid of the spoiler candidacy and afraid if i vote their party, i might help the person ivs went to get into office. this will change but it will be the people who make these changes. host: " curious why misses williamson switch from independent to democratic party -- switched from independent to democratic party."

guest: i want to talk about ideas that i felt when operatively welcome -- that were not particularly welcome paradigm had a party at the time -- by the democratic party at the time. i am a roosevelt democrat. i was raised a democrat and raised -- then that all my life -- i have been that all my life. i believe in the policies raised by franklin delano roosevelt. right now, we had a $50 trillion transfer of wealth into the hands of 1% of americans over the last 48 years and what they have done is create a situation where posse after party, people

who have wealth have a easier time building more and others have a hard time making it at all. a person's -- having a chance to. i believe in the traditional value system of the democratic party. host: who or what shape your democracy --philosophy? guest: my father. any time there was election, i said to my father -- i grew up in a home where franklin roosevelt was a great hero. it is interesting because as i have gotten older, i have rediscovered franklin roosevelt for myself. i read a book that has been out a while, " no orlene time -- nor --" no ordinary time".

they spend in my thinking. if you look at lincoln, and roosevelt, both of them had plans on what they would do when the war is over. that -- they both died. roosevelt was planning a second economic book of -- bill of rights. i will be making a speech about an economic bill of rights. we need to take up for some of the people who left off. host: who was the --your father? guest: he was a emigration lawyer. -- immigration lawyer. my father took us to vietnam because he wanted us to see, i came home from the seventh grade and my social studies teacher had said if we did not fight on the shores of hawaii, this was during the vietnam war, my

teacher told us if we did not fight on the shores of hawaii, that we will be fighting -- that will -- that if we did not fight in vietnam, we would fight on the shores of hawaii. my father said get the visas, we are going to vietnam. my mother said, ok and we went. my father wanted to make sure that we had a view of this country that was not filtered through official propaganda that there's not service -- that does not serve us. host: kathleen in ohio. caller: i want to say c-span and washington journal are national treasures. so much of what you say, i have such deep respect for. and on party, on childcare, on pay scares -- pay scales and corporate greed.

my parents, the same thing, roosevelt was the hero and my mother, who died a couple's go, would set up when senator sanders or senator warren would be on the use -- on the news and say, those guys are like the roosevelts. i have such respect for you. i was at the memorial of alecia tidus. during the question and answer period, i asked you about the lack of accountability in regard to the bush administration in regard to iraq. you diverted my question so, part of the question is in regard to accountability with you. i want to ask you in regard to foreign policy, we invaded iraq on false pretenses, iraq, syria,

liberty, which we know hillary clinton supported as secretary of state and senator. so how would you deal with foreign policy and the fact we leave in our wake hundreds of thousands of people dead, injured, and turned into refugees, so how would you deal with foreign policy? >> we have to deal with the american war machine. i referred to it moments ago, articulated by president eisenhower. he was the supreme allied world war ii. he warned us about the military-industrial complex. it is alive and well. we have an 858 billion dollars defense budget, even though we have left iraq, afghanistan, and our defense budget has gotten larger. i think there are people on the left and right in this country who relies our foreign policy into many cases is dominated not by the judgment security concerns, as would be determined

by our military commanders, so much as they are determined by the short-term profit goals that defense contractors such as northrup grumman, raytheon, so forth. we should all be aware our secretary of defense is a former board member at raytheon covets that the american people, there are so many areas where we are about to hit an inflection point and people realize the criminality of the war in iraq and realize we were lied into that war. people realize, oh i hope they realize that while our actually support having gone into afghanistan with the last 20 years were a spectacular failure, and all they ended up doing was killed hundreds of thousands of people and also to fill the coffers of the military-industrial complex. how would i deal with that? i would name it away i did and lead a serious effort, which i believe there are people in both parties willing to have a serious conversation about cutting the military budget and

establish a department of peace. even donald rumsfeld said we need to wage peace. you can't just fight a disease. you have to cultivate health. you can't just prepare for war. you have to prepare for war where the war won't be anymore. john f. kennedy said if we don't get rid of war, war will get rid of us. >> thank you for joining us. we appreciate your time. >> thank you so much. thank you for having me. ♪ >> c-span's campaign 2020 full coverage is your front row seat to the presidential election. watch our coverage of the candidates on the campaign trail with announcements, meet and greets, speeches, and events to make up your own mind. campaign 2024 on the c-span network, he's been now, our free mobile video app, or anytime online at c-span.org. c-span, her unfiltered view of all the tics.

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