Marianne Williamson on Being a TikTok Phenom

Deconstructed

The Intercept

News

4.8 • 4.7K Ratings

🗓️ 14 April 2023

⏱️ 43 minutes

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Summary

If engagement on TikTok is any indication, a Democratic primary held today among people under 50 would result in a landslide for Marianne Williamson. Williamson has only posted 63 videos but has drawn more than 10 million views, according to a TikTok data counter. This week on Deconstructed, Ryan Grim speaks with Williamson about her growing popularity with Gen Z, why her message focusing on the economic hardships Americans are facing resonates, and what the Democratic Party is missing.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Deconstructed, I'm Ryan Grimm, and I'm probably not telling you anything you
0:08.7	wouldn't have guessed when I say that I've struggled to get into TikTok.
0:12.6	I started an account a while ago to try to understand it, and within days my daughters
0:17.0	had renamed it and taken it over so I gave up.
0:20.0	But I do understand how important it is, now that it's reaching more than 100 million
0:23.5	Americans and it helps to define everyday life for perhaps a majority of people under
0:27.7	30.
0:28.7	So I didn't discover this thing for myself, but one thing I can tell you is that if the
0:32.5	Democratic primary were held today on TikTok, the result would be a landslide for Mary
0:38.2	Ann Williamson.
0:39.2	Now she has only posted 60 some odd videos but has drawn more than 10 million views there,
0:44.7	but that's just her official account.
0:46.2	There's now a cottage industry of Mary Ann Williamson fan accounts that posts her speeches
0:50.8	and regularly rack up millions of views themselves.
0:53.8	And an early poll recently showed her at over 20% with voters under 30, suggesting that the
0:58.2	buzz on TikTok is translating into real support.
1:01.7	So to help unpack what all that means, we're joined now by none other than the TikTok
1:05.5	phenom herself, Mary Ann Williamson.
1:07.5	Welcome to deconstructed.
1:09.7	Thank you Ryan, it's great to be here and it's always good to be with you.
1:13.6	And so when you launched your campaign, how did you think about TikTok and where are you
1:17.6	surprised at how you've taken off there?
	...

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