The night after she seemed to impress Donald Trump Jr. at the Democratic primary debate, Marianne Williamson was pressed on her anti-vaxxer past statements during an appearance with MSNBC’s Ari Melber.
“You have cast skepticism on vaccinations,” Melber told her. “I wonder if you could better explain to us where you come down on that, given the science and the concern that vaccinations do work and people need them to keep these communities safe.
Williamson called it an “overstatement” to say that she “cast skepticism” on vaccines.
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“On the issue of vaccinations I’m pro-vaccination, I’m pro-medicine, I’m pro-science,” she said. “On all of these issues, what I’m bringing up that is very legitimate and should not be derided and should not be marginalized, particularly in a free society is questions about the role of predatory Big Pharma.”
Presented with a tweet in which she called federal vaccination mandates “draconian” and “Orwellian,” Williamson began to spew typical anti-vaxxer arguments about how when she was a child there were fewer vaccines and therefore fewer “chronic illnesses”—an assertion that is not backed up by science.
Earlier in the segment, Melber played audio of Williamson dismissing the legitimacy of clinical depression on comedian and actor Russell Brand’s podcast.
“Maybe I was trying to impress Russell Brand. I was speaking glibly, I was not a candidate yet” Williamson said before apologizing for her remarks. “That was wrong of me to say,” she added. “I’m sorry that I said it.”
