Oprah Winfrey has publicly commented on the possibility of running for president, saying definitively that she’s “not interested.”
“It’s up to the people,” he said. “She would absolutely do it.”
Winfrey made a speech supporting the #MeToo movement of women exposing men who sexually abused or harassed them in the media and entertainment industry, which has led to a spate of firings such as Matt Lauer from NBC’s “Today” show.
Now, though, Winfrey indicated she’s not interested in running.
“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.”
Winfrey also explained that she stays off of social media such as Twitter because she feels it isn’t a good way to impact the world.
“I try not to lean into the hysteria. I’ve heard a lot of Twitter chatter where people have said, ‘Where are you? You should be speaking up on these things!’ But it makes no sense to speak when you cannot be heard,” she said. “One hundred and forty characters—that is not how you want to make your mark in the world.”
If Winfrey did run, she would face scrutiny over her long relationship with Harvey Weinstein. The producer was one of the first men to be exposed during the #MeToo movement.
Winfrey didn’t mention Weinstein by name during her speech, but she did mention him during the interview with InStyle magazine.
