Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson praises Trump's tough stance on China
The trade imbalance with China and Beijing's theft of U.S. technology needed to be dealt with, says Marianne Williamson, author, spiritual adviser and Democratic presidential candidate.
Bestselling author and spiritual leader Marianne Williamson, among a field of more than 20 candidates vying for the Democratic presidential nomination, told Fox News on Monday that she agrees with President Trump’s latest penalties on Chinese products.
“When it comes to China, he's absolutely right,” she said on “The Daily Briefing.” “It was time for someone to stand up to this. He's right that this has been going on a very long time. Now, whether the number of his tariffs is too blunt … is a question. The fact that he's taking a tough stance, he's right.”
The U.S. moved on Friday to raise duties on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25 percent, up from 10 percent. American officials did so after accusing China of backtracking on commitments it made in earlier negotiations.
Escalating its trade war with the U.S. and sending world financial markets into a slide, China announced higher tariffs Monday on $60 billion worth of American goods in retaliation for Trump’s actions.
Tariffs of 5 percent to 25 percent will take effect on June 1 on about 5,200 American products, including batteries, spinach and coffee, the Finance Ministry said.
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Williamson said America’s issues with China have reached a breaking point.
“The companies that go over there and have too easy a time trading technology … we should be thinking of,” she said to Dana Perino.
She added: “This issue on trade in terms of China having our technology and secrets, this has been going on a long time, and needs to be dealt with.”
Williamson previously ran unsuccessfully for Congress in California in the 2014 blanket primary to replace outgoing Rep. Henry Waxman, a Democrat.
In the 2016 presidential race, she supported Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who ran as a Democrat against eventual party nominee Hillary Clinton.
She told Fox News that her positions about big-tech backlash are uncontroversial.
She said: “I don't think a president should be running around pointing at companies and breaking them out without any kind of process here. It's essentially a utility that has gone unregulated. As far as I'm concerned, that's got to stop.”
Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kamala Harris of California and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, all running for president, have all called for more intense government oversight of Facebook, with Warren going a step further and advocating for breaking up Facebook, which includes the signature platform along with Instagram and WhatsApp.
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Williamson said, “When you talk about a particular company that should be broken up, I think these companies are too big. I'll say that. I think that there's antitrust issues. How many (tech wizards) might there be out there that don't have a chance? That's what a free market is about. Being free. We're not for the huge … conglomerates that take over.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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