Self-help writer Marianne Williamson criticized the other candidates for focusing too much on plans and policies at the first Democratic presidential debate, saying: "If you think we're going to beat Donald Trump by just having all these plans, you've got another thing coming. Because he didn't win by saying he had a plan. He won by simply saying, 'Make America Great Again.' We've got to get deeper than just these superficial fixes, as important as they are."



"Even if we're just talking about the superficial fixes -- ladies and gentlemen, we don't have a health care system in the United States, we have a sickness care system in the United States," she added. "We just wait until someone gets sick and talk about who is going to pay for the treatment."



"Donald Trump is not going to be beaten just by insider politics talk. He’s not going to be beaten just somebody who has plans. He’s going to be beaten by somebody who has an idea what this man has done. This man has reached into the psyche of the American people and he has harnessed fear for political purposes. So, Mr. President, if you’re listening, I want you to hear me, please. You have harnessed fear for political purposes and only love can cast that out. So I, sir, I have a feeling you know what you’re doing. I’m going to harness love for political purposes. I will meet you on that field. And, sir, love will win," she said later.