2020 Democrat Marianne Williamson: U.S. backing "genocidal war" in Yemen
Marianne Williamson, a Democratic candidate for president, condemned the Trump administration's military and economic assistance to the Saudi-led coalition waging a bloody campaign against Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen.
"We are giving aerial support to a genocidal war that Saudi Arabia is waging against Yemen," Williamson, an author and spiritual adviser, told "Face the Nation" Sunday. "Tens of thousands of people have been starved, including children."
Williamson said older generations of Americans would be "rolling over in their graves" over the Trump administration's multi-billion-dollar arms deal with the Saudi monarchy, which has been under withering criticism for its operations in Yemen. In a report released Friday, the United Nations said the Saudi-led coalition was responsible for the deaths of at least 729 Yemeni children last year.
Williamson said the U.S. should instead promote "moral leadership" around the world.
"Now, I'm not saying that America was ever perfect, but there was a time on this planet when other nations, and Americans ourselves, saw that when it came to international policy we at least tried to stand for democracy and humanitarian," she said.
Williamson pushed back against the notion that she supports gutting America's military.
"It's not just about cutting funding to military. I want the military to have whatever it needs for legitimate security purposes," she said. "My critique is of political decisions that have more to do with short term profit maximization for defense contractors."
"We need to wage peace," Williamson added, noting her proposal to create a "U.S. Department of Peace."