With her talk of harnessing love, her Hollywood friends and background in spiritual guidance and self-help books, many instantly wrote Marianne Williamson off as a joke candidate for the presidency after she jumped into the race.

But the controversial figure has proved curiously magnetic to the viewing public during the brief moments she’s actually been able to speak from her lectern, literally on the fringe, at the televised Democratic primary debates so far.

In the latest one, despite enjoying only eight minutes and 52 seconds of airtime in Tuesday’s debate in Detroit – a fraction of the attention on the likes of leading lights Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, who were center stage while she was at the end of the 10-person lineup – the author had an immediate impact.

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The live audience cheered her loudly and, for those at the venue or watching remotely, she ended up as the most Googled candidate on Tuesday, the first night in the second round of Democratic debates, following the first round in Miami last month. The second night of the second round is on Wednesday.

In that first round in Florida, she referred to the prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, as “girlfriend” and said she would be the first leader she would call if she took the White House in the 2020 election.

For long stretches of time, the CNN moderators did not include Williamson, 67, in the discussion, and yet she demonstrated an ability to cut through.

The ongoing scandal involving Flint, Michigan, over the drinking water having been contaminated with lead, she said, is “just the tip of the iceberg” of government mishandling of major issues, especially for low-income areas.

“We have an administration that’s gutted the Clean Water Act. We have communities, particularly communities of colour and disadvantaged communities all over this country, who are suffering from environmental injustice … this is part of the dark underbelly of American society,” she said to a burst of applause.

Until recently, Williamson, who was raised in Houston and once described herself as a “bitch for God”, and has been called the “high priestess of pop religion” was best known for 13 books, her links to Hollywood and figures like Oprah Winfrey and her food charity.

But she has dabbled in politics in the past. And she’s made headlines with controversial views on mental health, anti-depressants and the safety of vaccination.

On Tuesday, on the topic of reparations for slavery, she was forthright, saying America’s economic racial disparity comes from “a great injustice that has never been dealt with … that continues to form a toxicity underneath the surface.”

As the leading candidates sparred over policy details, especially the party divide between the progressives and moderates, she broke through once again.

“If you think any of this wonkiness is going to deal with this dark psychic force of the collectivised hatred that this president is bringing up in this country, then I’m afraid that the Democrats are going to see some very dark days,” she said.

Speaking to the Guardian last Friday, Williamson said she was avoiding doing too much preparation for this debate, saying: “The best thing I can do is be myself.”

A sense of authenticity certainly seems to be a big part of her appeal – even if it sometimes verges on the bizarre. The latter was on display after the debate. A young child asked her about her pet preferences.

“I had a cat,” she told the young boy sadly in a widely shared clip, bluntly adding “and the cat died.”