Marianne Williamson’s staff problems are becoming the stuff of political legend. Back in March when she announced her presidential campaign, Politico dropped a bombshell story in which multiple staffers accused her of being an abusive boss who seemed to be in a constant state of road rage.
“It would be foaming, spitting, uncontrollable rage,” said a former staffer, who, like most people that spoke with POLITICO, was granted anonymity because of their concern about being sued for breaking non-disclosure agreements. “It was traumatic. And the experience, in the end, was terrifying.”
Williamson would throw her phone at staffers, according to three of those former staffers. Her outbursts could be so loud that two former aides recounted at least four occasions when hotel staff knocked on her door to check on the situation. In one instance, Williamson got so angry about the logistics of a campaign trip to South Carolina that she felt was poorly planned that she pounded a car door until her hand started to swell, according to four former staffers. Ultimately, she had to go to an urgent care facility, they said. All 12 former staffers interviewed recalled instances where Williamson would scream at people until they started to cry…
“She would get caught in these vicious emotional loops where she would yell and scream hysterically,” said a second former staffer. “This was day after day after day. It wasn’t that she was having a bad day or moment. It was just boom, boom, boom — and often for no legitimate reason.”
Jump forward to May and both her campaign manager and deputy manager announced they were leaving. Williamson’s camp claimed it was just a change of direction but Peter Daou denied it.
“The campaign is just moving in a different direction,” a Williamson campaign staffer granted anonymity to discuss campaign dynamics told POLITICO. The staffer elaborated that Daou “comes from a background of what you would call traditional Democratic politics, and Marianne is looking for something a bit more innovative.”
In an interview with POLITICO, Daou said it’s “categorically false” that the campaign was too progressive for him. He declined to talk about any other internal campaign discussions or decision making.
In early June a new campaign manager was announced and immediately Politico had news about her.
Williamson’s new campaign manager, Roza Calderon, was accused of financial fraud by a local Democratic party group in 2017, according to local reporting and an interview with the head of a Democratic group in Placer County, California.
A police report filed by the group alleged that Calderon spent nearly $1,900 from the Placer Women Democrats’ bank account on a host of personal expenses.
That seemed pretty awkward but it wouldn’t be awkward for long. Two weeks later, Roza Calderon was out. Once again, Politico had the scoop.
One person familiar with the campaign said that Calderon quit.
“She tried to right the ship and lead this campaign. Marianne knocked her down every chance she got,” the person said.
So at the end of June, Williamson announced her third campaign manager, Carlos Cardona. Today we’re learning that Cardona has fired a couple people while several others have quit.
The campaign’s entire three-person South Carolina operation, which had been led by Marcurius Byrd, resigned, according to four people with knowledge of the campaign’s operations and team discussions, granted anonymity to discuss internal dynamics. In addition, Carlos Cardona, who was recently promoted to head the campaign after serving as New Hampshire state director, fired two national field directors and a member of Williamson’s New Hampshire team, according to those same people.
All of this happened because some staffers expressed concern that Williamson wasn’t doing enough to ensure her name would be on the ballot in states beyond New Hampshire and South Carolina. Staffers who were on the call said Williamson complained she felt attacked and suggested some people wouldn’t have jobs by the end of the week.
“If you’re just thinking about New Hampshire and South Carolina, then this is a grift,” one of the people said.
Yes, it does sound a bit grifty. I’m not sure what Williamson is doing this for beyond attention.
Read the full article here