A day after she made waves by calling mandatory vaccine policies “Orwellian” and “draconian,” Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson told The View that while she doesn’t consider herself an “anti-vaxxer” she doesn’t “trust propaganda on either side” on vaccines.
Speaking at a campaign event in New Hampshire on Wednesday night, Williamson—who says she wants to bring “spirituality” into the world of politics—likened vaccinations to the “abortion debate,” saying “the U.S. government doesn’t tell any citizen, in my book, what they have to do with their body or their child.”
Appearing on the daytime chatfest on Thursday, Williamson was grilled on her remarks as conservative co-host Meghan McCain bluntly stated that Williamson had come out “as the anti-vaxxer candidate.”
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“No, I did not,” the spiritual author pushed back, prompting McCain to highlight Williamson’s objections to mandatory vaccinations.
“What about the kids exposed to measles and all of that, and the people suffering because of the measles outbreak?” McCain asked. “Why would you say that?”
“I think I misspoke in that one sentence, but I would like to express myself,” Williamson replied, adding that she is really more concerned with Big Pharma being “too cozy” with the CDC and FDA. “The days of blind faith in Big Pharma are over,” she added.
Directly pressed by McCain about whether she was okay with mandatory vaccines, Williamson repeated that she “misspoke” before asserting that as president, she would commission scientists so that “the American people see what’s going on with these vaccines who are not paid by Big Pharma.”
A moment later, co-host Sunny Hostin jumped in and said she didn’t feel Williamson had answered McCain’s question, which was: “Do you support mandatory vaccinations?”
“I think that we have a very—I understand that public safety must come first, but I also understand that we must have a balance between public safety and the issues of individual freedom,” the presidential hopeful responded. “I do not trust the propaganda on either side.”
Liberal co-host Joy Behar shot back that Williamson gave a “nebulous answer,” prompting the Democratic candidate to claim she understands there “are situations where there are absolute outbreaks and I understand there are epidemics where vaccines are life-saving.”
“I support vaccines,” she concluded.
