‘I don’t have the DNA’: Oprah ‘not interested’ in presidential run
Oprah's best friend acknowledges a presidential run would be good for everyone but Oprah. Photo: Getty
Oprah Winfrey has downplayed rumours she could stand for the US presidency in 2020, insisting: “It’s not something that interests me…I don’t have the DNA for it.”
A powerful speech made at the Golden Globes awards ceremony earlier this month, sparked calls for the 63-year-old to run for the White House.
But in an interview with InStyle magazine, Winfrey said: “I met with someone the other day who said that they would help me with a campaign. That’s not for me.
“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.’”
Winfrey, who is known by millions on first-name basis, first rose to fame as the host of a TV talk show, using it to build a media empire that spans magazine publishing, movie and television production, cable TV and satellite radio.
Born into poverty, she is now one of the world’s wealthiest women.
She long been associated with Democratic Party politics having campaigned for President Obama and endorsed Hillary Clinton in previous races.
Before this latest announcement, the American media mogul’s longtime partner, Stedman Graham, had previously said to the Los Angeles Times that “she would absolutely do it”.
President Trump said he could beat her if she did decide to run in the 2020 election.