Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:07 pm
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Oprah Winfrey has decided that a run for president is not in her DNA, so she has announced that she is not running in 2020.
Transcript via InStyle magazine:
LB: And you speak for so many. How do you feel when people say, “Oprah 2020�
OW: [Laughs] I actually saw a mug the other day … I thought it was a cute mug. All you need is a mug and some campaign literature and a T-shirt. 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. I don’t have the DNA for it. 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.
Oprah made the right decision not to run for president
There was something interesting in the polling about Oprah running for president. The numbers showed a backlash against celebrity candidates. After a little more than a year of Donald Trump in office, voters are craving a competent, experienced non-celebrity candidate. Through the forces of money and fame, Oprah could have won the Democratic nomination. She would have brought people out to vote for her who didn’t normally vote. She would have made Bernie Sanders‘ efforts to appeal to non-Democratic voters look like a Rotary Club meeting in a corner booth at Denny’s.
The problem would have come in a general election against Trump. A battle of two celebrities would not have been good for the presidency or the country. America tried the whole unqualified celebrity president, and the vast majority of the country is not happy with the choice.
A presidential campaign would have been ugly for Oprah. It would have damaged her standing in the world, and made her a polarizing figure.
When you are Oprah Winfrey, you don’t need the presidency or the hassles that come with running. She made a smart call by passing on 2020
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
