Oprah Winfrey: No, I do not want to be US President in 2020
Oprah Winfrey poses with Hillary Rodham Clinton (Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images)
Speculation has been growing for weeks that Oprah Winfrey might run for president in 2020.
The talkshow star and businesswoman was widely mooted as a potential frontrunner for the next election following a passionate speech on sexual harassment at the Golden Globes.
Fans hoping Oprah will be the United States’ first female president might be disappointed, however, as the star appears to have ruled out the prospect in a newly published interview.
Oprah Winfrey speaks onstage during the 45th NAACP Image Awards (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for NAACP Image Awards)
Speaking to US InStyle magazine, Oprah said she “does not have the DNA” to be president.
“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.”
She gave the interview three weeks before picking up the Cecil B DeMille award for outstanding contribution to entertainment, according to InStyle.
Oprah Winfrey (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for FIJI)
Two close friends of Winfrey spoke to CNN the following day to claim Oprah has been “actively thinking” of running to be the 46th president.
President Trump already declared he would beat Winfrey if she ran in the 2020 presidential election.
Asked about the prospect of Oprah running by reporters, President Trump said: “Yeah I’ll beat Oprah,” adding that campaigning against her would be “a lot of fun”.
“I like Oprah but I don’t think she’s going to run. I don’t think she’s going to run. I knew her very well,” he added.
President Donald Trump (Getty)
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Polls suggest he wouldn’t be the only candidate that could beat the billionaire businesswoman.
Winfrey is less popular among Democrats than Joe Biden, according to a poll taken in the wake of rumours about a run for POTUS.
The popular TV presenter would be beaten by both Biden and Bernie Sanders in a four-way Democratic primary that also included Elizabeth Warren, the RABA Research survey says.
Former Vice President Joe Biden (HRC)
Former vice-president Biden was better liked than any of his most prominent potential competitors, with 76 per cent of Democratic voters had a somewhat favorable or very favorable opinion of the former vice-president.
In contrast, only 67 per cent of Democratic voters felt the same about Winfrey, leaving her tied with left-wing former hopeful Bernie Sanders, who lost the 2016 primary to Hillary Clinton by more than three million votes.
She listed just ahead of Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, whom 58% of Democratic voters had a very favorable or somewhat favorable opinion of.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
When the four were polled against each other, Biden was the most popular, winning 26 per cent of the vote in a four-way race. Sanders was at 21 per cent, Winfrey at 20 per cent and Warren at 18 per cent.
RABA interviewed Democratic voters between 10 and 11 January via an online survey. The margin of error was five points.
Fans and allies have speculated on whether she would run for the top job in recent years, but Winfrey herself has always been reluctant to say.
Winfrey, who is a strong supporter of LGBT rights, campaigned for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016.
(Getty)
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During Clinton’s campaign, she discussed the prospect of a female president and said “America, it’s about time that we made that decision.”
In 2017 she confessed that her view of the presidency was evolving in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory.
Winfrey added that she had always thought the job would require far more experience than she had – but has recently changed her mind.
President Barack Obama awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Oprah Winfrey on November 20, 2013 (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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“It’s clear you don’t need government experience to be elected president of the United States”, she said.
“That’s what I thought,” she continued. “I thought, ‘Oh, gee, I don’t have the experience, I don’t know enough.’ And now I’m thinking, ‘Oh.'”
