Bill Maher made the case for Oprah Winfrey to run for president on his show last night.
O’Rourke Will Do Oprah Winfrey Interview
Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) will head to New York next month for a live interview with Oprah Winfrey as he continues to mull a 2020 presidential run, NBC News reports.
Only God Can Make Oprah Run
Oprah Winfrey told People Magazine that she would consider a 2020 presidential bid if she received a call from God that was “so clear that not even she could miss it.”
Said Winfrey: “And I haven’t gotten that.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“It’s not something that interests me. I don’t have the DNA for it.”
— Oprah Winfrey, in an interview with InStyle, on running for president.
Quote of the Day
“Yeah, I’ll beat Oprah. Oprah will be lots of fun. I know her very well. I did one of her last shows… I like Oprah. I don’t think she’s going to run.”
— President Trump, quoted by NBC News.
Oprah ‘Intrigued’ By Idea of Presidential Bid
Gayle King said that she thinks her friend, Oprah Winfrey, is “intrigued” by the idea of running for president in 2020, The Hill reports.
Said King: “I absolutely don’t think that her position has changed. I do think she’s intrigued by the idea. I do think that. I also know that after years of watching the Oprah show, you always have the right to change your mind.”
Quote of the Day
“She launched a rocket tonight. I want her to run for president. I don’t think she had any intention of declaring. But now she doesn’t have a choice.”
— Actress Meryl Streep, quoted by the Washington Post, on Oprah Winfrey’s speech at the Golden Globe awards.
The Real Message of Oprah’s Speech
Dahlia Lithwick: “I loved Oprah’s Golden Globes speech on Sunday. It was mesmerizing, pitch perfect, and gave voice to many lifetimes of frustration and vindication with eloquence and a full authority she has earned. But I found the strange Facebook response of ‘Oprah 2020’ weirdly discordant and disorienting. Oprah’s speech—in my hearing—wasn’t about why she needs to run for office. It was about why the rest of us need to do so, immediately.”
The Case Against an Oprah Run
Ben Smith: “So the case against Oprah is just that: She may, in fact, be what Trump pretends to be — a self-made business success story whose words resonate across the country. But Democrats don’t want to improve on Trump. They want to reverse him. And that’s where governors and senators with deep experience, proven political chops, and an unglamorous sense of normalcy come in.”
“Trump has also made a strong case to Oprah on why she shouldn’t run. To run for president is to ensure, demand even, that at least 40% of Americans hate you. The one recent political poll on Oprah hints at this: She had a surprisingly high, 33%, unfavorable rating. Who dislikes Oprah? When you put her in a political context, Republicans do, it turns out. And Oprah has had her ups and downs, and would be signing on for the sort of hostile examination of her own career that nobody would welcome.”
CNN: Six times Oprah stoked — or shot down — 2020 speculation.
Friends Say Oprah Is Mulling Presidential Bid
Oprah Winfrey is “actively thinking” about running for president, two of her close friends told CNN.
“One of the sources said these conversations date back several months. The person emphasized that Winfrey has not made up her mind about running.”
Oprah for President?
“Oprah Winfrey for president was something of a running theme throughout the Golden Globes on Sunday, beginning with Seth Meyers’ opening monologue. He jokingly forbade Winfrey from considering the presidency. But the trend picked up steam as the night unfolded, particularly after Winfrey’s impassioned acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille Award,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“It didn’t take long for social media, and celebs in particular, to rally Winfrey for the job, including inside the ceremony.”
Said Winfrey’s longtime partner Stedman Graham: “It’s up to the people. She would absolutely do it.”
Playbook: “She has said she’ll never run for public office but, why not? We bet she has pretty high approval ratings among, well, everyone. She’s universally known. She’d raise the money quite easily. She’s a billionaire, so she could say she has business chops. Imagine Donald Trump talking trash about Oprah! Quite frankly, there isn’t any clear Democratic favorite that would clear the field at the moment. Don’t count someone like her out.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“There will be no running for office of any kind for me.”
— Oprah Winfrey, on CBS This Morning.
Democrats’ Best Hope for 2020
John Podhoretz: “If any figure in the United States bears watching over the next couple of years as our political culture continues the radical transformation that led to the election of Donald Trump, it’s Oprah. I believe she’s uniquely positioned, should she wish to commit herself, to seek the Democratic nomination for president and challenge Trump in 2020.”
“If you think that Trump can be beaten by a two-term governor of a Midwestern state with really good ideas about health care, or by a senator who really attracts young people, think again. The idea that a relatively conventional elected official will differentiate herself from Trump by dint of her seriousness or that an unconventional elected official can out-populist Trump is crazy.”
Oprah for President?
Oprah Winfrey told Bloomberg she’s rethinking if she could ever be president.
Said Winfrey: “I actually never considered the question, even the possibility. Now, I’m thinking, Oh!”
