Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson criticized Vogue Tuesday for excluding her in a photoshoot of the female candidates running for president.
Vogue ran a feature entitled “Madam President? Five Candidates on What It Will Take to Shatter the Most Stubborn Glass Ceiling,” on Monday. Featured in the shoot were Democratic lawmakers Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Sen. Kamala Harris (Calif.), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.).
Williamson was the only female candidate running for the Democratic primary excluded from the shoot.
Vogue defended their decision to exclude Williamson by saying they wanted to focus on female lawmakers running for president.
“We’re in no way discrediting Marianne Williamson and all she’s accomplished. For the photo, Vogue wanted to highlight the five female lawmakers who bring a collective 40 years of a collect of amount of political experience to this race," the magazine said to CNN. (The Hill)
Williamson was not happy with Vogue’s explanation, telling CNN that she only learned of her exclusion when the article itself came out.
“The Framers of the Constitution were very clear about who’s qualified to run for president. They did not make any media, certainly not Vogue Magazine, the gatekeeper here,” Williamson said. “The Framers of the Constitution said in order to run for president, in order to be qualified to be president, you have to have been born here, you have to have lived here 14 years, and you have to be 35 years or older.”
“If they wanted to say you had to be an elected official, they would have. And they didn’t for a reason,” she added. (The Hill)
Williamson went on to slam the “insidious” bias of the media which suggests that only individuals who’ve held office before are qualified to run for president.
The presidential hopeful is only mentioned briefly in Vogue's feature. She is referred to as Oprah Winfrey's "spiritual adviser."
Williamson’s communication’s director, Patricia Ewing, has already pushed back against such characterizations.
“Also, not her occupation: Oprah’s BFF or Oprah’s guru. (Or, any title that rightfully belongs to Gayle King.)” Ewing said in a statement.
Vogue's snub comes just a week after Williamson made quite the showing at the first Democratic primary debate. During the televised event, Williamson made known her unconventional political strategies, one of which is to "harness love for political purposes." Her performance led her to be the most searched candidate for night two of the debates.
Watch Williamson's Performance Here:
Meet Marianne Williamson. The most Googled candidate from last night's debate. pic.twitter.com/0FBAHZHZDX
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