Marianne Williamson mocked after joking about learning Spanish: 'Como se dice "vaccinate your children"'
Will the next president be bilingual? Wednesday’s first Democratic debate saw presidential candidates like Cory Booker, Beto O’Rourke and Julián Castro putting their Spanish-speaking skills to good use.
Booker’s apparent side-eye at a similarly bilingual O’Rourke is already the stuff of memes, while many are joking that the pressure is on for the next round of candidates who will take part in Thursday’s debate.
My takeaway from tonight’s #DemocraticDebate is that Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders are pulling all-nighters on Rosetta Stone.
— Katrina Pierson (@KatrinaPierson) June 27, 2019
Bernie Sanders pacing around his hotel room, rubbing his temples, muttering “Los billionarios…Medicare por todos” over and over again
— Jason O. Gilbert (@gilbertjasono) June 27, 2019
One of those candidates, Marianne Williamson, quipped that she needed to pick up the language by the time she took the stage Thursday night.
I need to learn Spanish by tomorrow night at 9.
— Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) June 27, 2019
Plenty of her followers appreciated the joke, but the author and spiritual adviser also opened herself up to some jabs mocking her stance on vaccinations. After calling mandatory vaccinations “draconian and Orwellian” during a campaign stop last week, Williamson apologized and said she “misspoke,” though she continued to air her doubts about “big pharma.”
“First of all, I am not anti-vaccine,” she said during an appearance on The View last Thursday.“I think I misspoke in that one sentence.”
“But I will say this: if I were president of the United States — when I’m president of the United States — there would be a commission of scientists learning so that the American people see what’s going on with these vaccines who are not paid by big pharma,” she continued.
“I understand that public safety must come first,” she added. “But I also understand that we must have a balance between public safety and the issue of individual freedom. I do not trust the propaganda on either side.”
Despite her insistence that she supports vaccines, Williamson’s comments have fueled accusations that she is also a vaccine skeptic. Earlier this week, her campaign issued a statement trying to clarify her position.
— Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) June 24, 2019
Even so, her tweet has fetched responses like these:
Como se dice “vaccinate your children on the CDC schedule”
— Jessica Shortall (@jessicashortall) June 27, 2019
Clearly that doesn't even crack the top ten list of things you need to learn.
— Rob Jackson (@imrobjackson) June 27, 2019
Learn basic science first.
— J. Mark (@noproblemjack) June 27, 2019
A starting lesson:
Las vacunas son importantes para la salud de la poblacion. Las vacunas salvan vidas.— Lukuion (@Lukuion) June 27, 2019
You need to learn the science behind vaccinations first.
— Miranda Yaver (@mirandayaver) June 27, 2019
All jokes aside, author Roxane Gay was among those who found the candidates’ grasp of Spanish refreshing. Time to get on Duolingo, folks?
All I will say is that it would be great for a presidential candidate to speak Spanish, the language 41 million Americans speak. Imagine if we took that possibility seriously. (This is not a defense of Beto. It’s a reminder that other languages exist in America.)
— roxane gay (@rgay) June 27, 2019
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