« I don’t have the DNA for it, » Winfrey said.
Oprah Winfrey put the kibosh on speculation she might challenge President Donald Trump in 2020.
“I don’t have the DNA for it,” Winfrey told InStyle magazine for a March cover story. She said that she’s “always felt very secure and confident” with herself, knowing her limits.
“And so it’s not something that interests me,” she added.
After Winfrey’s widely praised speech on female empowerment at the Golden Globes earlier this month, some thought she might run for president. Two of Winfrey’s closest friends reportedly said she was “ actively thinking ” about challenging Trump in 2020.
NBC even seemed to endorse her on the night of her speech, tweeting a photo of Winfrey with the message, “Nothing but respect for OUR future president.” Actress Meryl Streep similarly said she wanted Winfrey to run for president.
But in the newly released InStyle interview, Winfrey indicated she often rebuffs nudges from her friend, CBS anchor Gayle King, to run:
“Gayle — who knows me as well as I know myself practically — has been calling me regularly and texting me things, like a woman in the airport saying, ‘When’s Oprah going to run?’ So Gayle sends me these things, and then she’ll go, ‘I know, I know, I know! It wouldn’t be good for you — it would be good for everyone else.’ I met with someone the other day who said that they would help me with a campaign. That’s not for me.”
In a Rasmussen poll released shortly after her Golden Globes appearance, Winfrey would grab more likely U. S. voters than Trump would if the 2020 election were held in January. While 48 percent of likely U. S. voters would choose Winfrey, 38 percent would re-elect Trump, and 14 percent of those polled said they were undecided.
Winfrey, during her interview, also discussed the recent onslaught of sexual harassment allegations, which she said brought a new sense of awareness to the American public.
“It has seared into the consciousness a level of awareness that was not there before. That’s the most important thing to me,” she said.
