Oprah Winfrey said she is “definitely not” running for president in 2020, attempting to put to bed speculation on a campaign after her rousing speech at the Golden Globe Awards last month.
“I am definitely not running for president,” Oprah said on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” to boos from the audience. “You give a speech and then you sit down and you have, surprisingly, started running for president.”
The longtime media mogul and philanthropist said she could not believe the reaction to her speech that encouraged women to speak out against injustice.
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“It’s a humbling thing to have people think you can run the country,” she said. “Am I supposed to run the country? I don’t think so!”
Kimmel then mentioned a tweet by President Trump attacking Oprah for being “very insecure” and saying he would defeat her if she ever ran for president.
“Just watched a very insecure Oprah Winfrey, who at one point I knew very well, interview a panel of people on 60 Minutes. The questions were biased and slanted, the facts incorrect,” he said. “Hope Oprah runs so she can be exposed and defeated just like all the others!”
Oprah said there was “not a second” that she thought about responding to the late-night tweet by the president, someone she says she once considered a friend.
Trump once said in a 1999 interview said that Oprah would be his “first choice” for a running mate if he ever decided to run for president.
“You don’t win by meeting any kind of negativity head-on,” Oprah said.
In an interview published in January, Oprah appeared to dismiss speculation on a potential 2020 presidential run, saying she does not “have the DNA” to launch a bid for the White House.
After the speculation in January, a poll released by CNN and research firm SSRS showed Oprah beating Trump by a 9-point margin in a possible 2020 head-to-head matchup.