Oprah Winfrey Officially Shoots Down Presidential Rumors For First Time Following Golden Globes
One month after her impassioned Golden Globes speech that had fans speculating whether she would run for president, Oprah Winfrey has made it clear that being the commander in chief is not in her future.
During a special live-taping of her podcast SuperSoul Sunday, Winfrey was chatting with Lin-Manuel Miranda when she confirmed for the first time that she has no plans of running for office.
After Miranda stated that he is not going into politics, Winfrey replied: “I’m not either.”
Both Winfrey and Miranda have long been favored by fans to launch a White House bid.
However, Winfrey has repeatedly denied a desire to run for office in the past. Just ahead of the Golden Globes, she said a potential presidential bid is “not something that interests me.”
“I’ve always felt very secure and confident with myself in knowing what I could do and what I could not. And so it’s not something that interests me,” the 63-year-old former talk show host told InStyle Editor-in-Chief Laura Brown in the cover story for their March Fashion Issue. “I don’t have the DNA for it.”
But interest in Winfrey’s possible presidential run swelled following her rousing Cecil B. DeMille Award acceptance speech at the 2018 Golden Globe Awards, where she assured sexual predators that their “time is up.”
Following the uprise in speculation over Winfrey’s potential political plans, President Donald Trump addressed the buzz, offering rare praise for a potential rival while also boasting that he would defeat her.
Opening a bipartisan meeting on immigration reform, Trump told reporters in the Cabinet Room: “Yeah, I’ll beat Oprah — Oprah would be a lot of fun. I know her very well.”
“I like Oprah,” he said. “I don’t think she’s going to run.”
Winfrey taped the podcast in New York City on Wednesday at the historic Apollo Theater. The evening focused around one-on-one conversations with thought leaders and modern-day influencers as they discussed the current climate in our culture.
The mogul also sat down with Salma Hayek, Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, Jordan Peele and Yara Shahidi.
The special will air on OWN Tuesday, February 27 at 10 p.m.
