Anderson Cooper Brutally Grills Marianne Williamson Over Mental Health Comments

Marianne Williamson is an internet god who probably had the best night of any candidate during Wednesday’s Democratic debate. It would be so great if she did not also have some, shall we say, questionable views about science and medicine. But, sadly, she does, and CNN’s Anderson Cooper challenged her on those views awkwardly and at length on Thursday night.

Cooper brought up Williamson’s repeated negative comments about antidepressants, showing a tweet in which she said that the high levels of Americans on antidepressants were dangerous because people were “numbing [their] pain.”

“If you’re on an antidepressant, you’re not numbing your pain,” Cooper said. “You’re actually trying to feel again, no?”

“Well, some people would argue that, some people not,” Williamson said.

Cooper also pressed Williamson on past comments in which she called clinical depression a “scam.” (She has since apologized for the comments.) She said she was merely warning against people attempting to stave off all dark feelings, and that people were being overprescribed.

“We have lost our sense that there are times when sadness is part of life,” Williamson said. “What I speak to is not serious—what is today called clinical depression, although I have questioned sometimes how that is looked at.”

Cooper noted that Williamson had also sent a tweet after Robin Williams’ death by suicide which appeared to imply that antidepressants might have contributed to his death.

“I have never argued that anybody who is on an antidepressant should get off an antidepressant,” Williamson replied.

Williamson reacted to the interview in multiple tweets.

It’s not a great sign when you have to tweet “I’m pro medicine,” is it? Watch the full interview below.