President Trump said Tuesday that he’d ‘beat Oprah’ if talk show host Oprah Winfrey faced off against him in the 2020 presidential election.’
‘Oprah would be a lot of fun. I know her very well. I did one of her last shows … I like Oprah,’ the president told reporters at the White House.
Trump added, ‘I don’t think she’s going to run.’
President Trump talked about a potential Oprah Winfrey rivalry in 2020 at the White House Tuesday, saying he didn’t expect the talk show host to run, but suggested he would beat her and win re-election
Oprah Winfrey’s Golden Globes speech on Sunday night opened the door to rumors that she might be interested in a presidential run
President Trump (left) said of Oprah Winfrey (right) that he knows the talk show host ‘very well’ and pointed out to reporters that he had done one of her last shows. Here the duo pose for a picture in January 1988
Trump’s assessment came on the heels of Winfrey’s best friend Gayle King telling audiences on CBS This Morning, the show she co-hosts, that the queen of talk is ‘intrigued’ by the idea of running for president.
‘I don’t think she is actively considering it, I don’t think she is actively considering it at this time,’ King said.
Presidential rumors ramped up after Winfrey gave a powerful speech at the Golden Globes Sunday night, proclaiming ‘a new day is on the horizon.’
‘And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men fighting hard to make sure they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say, “Me too,” again,’ Oprah announced from onstage of the glitzy Los Angeles ceremony, where Hollywood’s women wore black to symbolically speak out against sexual harassment ans assault.
President Trump (left), seen in this photo from November 2001 with Oprah Winfrey (right), said she’d be a lot of fun to run against, but said he thought she wouldn’t jump in the 2020 race
On Tuesday, bestie Gayle King said the queen of talk wasn’t ‘actively considering’ seeking the White House
Directly after the speech, her longtime partner Stedman Graham added fuel to the fire by telling the Los Angeles Times a presidential run isn’t totally out.
‘It’s up to the people,’ Graham said. ‘She would absolutely do it.’
Two unnamed pals of Winfrey’s added to the speculation by telling CNN Money that the longtime talk show host is ‘actively thinking’ about a bid.
The White House has already chimed in on Monday, welcoming Winfrey as a potential Trump rival.
‘We welcome the challenger, whether it be Oprah Winfrey or anybody else,’ Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Last fall, Winfrey had said she has no intention of running for political office.
On Tuesday, King suggested that her best friend’s viewpoint remained unchanged.
‘No, I absolutely don’t think that her position has changed, I don’t,’ King told her CBS This Morning co-hosts, who were grilling her on the topic. ‘I was up talking to her very late last night,’ King added.
‘I do think this though guys, I do think she’s intrigued by the idea, I do think that,’ King continued.
‘I also know that after years of watching the Oprah show, you always have the right to change your mind,’ the CBS anchor added.
King noted that there are already people lining up to be Winfrey’s campaign manager and volunteers for a potential bid.
‘She loves this country and would like to be of service in some way,’ King said.
King also explained that Graham had misheard the question presented to him by the Los Angeles Times, thinking the reporter had asked ‘would she make a good president.’
‘And he said, “Absolutely, she would.” That’s how he interpreted the question,’ King said. ‘Because, this is the thing, Steadman would never so cavalierly say, “Absolutely she would do it. It’s up to the people.” He would never do that.’
Gayle King (left) said that being in the room Sunday night at the Golden Globes with best friend Oprah Winfrey (right) was ‘electrifying’
Gayle King (left) and Oprah Winfrey (right) pose on the Kennedy Center’s red carpet in Washington, D.C. King said that while Winfrey is ‘intrigued’ by the idea of a presidential run, she’s not ‘actively considering’ a bid
Co-host Norah O’Donnell challenged King on that, pointing to the fact that Graham did indeed say, ‘She would absolutely do it.’
‘I’m telling you his interpretation of the question was … he thought the reporter was saying would she be a good president,’ King said.
‘He is nothing but supportive, he would never throw it out there like that,’ Winfrey’s best friend noted.
King also said that Winfrey was wholly behind her Golden Globes speech, getting some advice from one of her O, The Oprah Magazine editors, but mainly penning it herself.
‘She writes her column every month in the magazine. She’s a very good writer. We all know she is a very good talker,’ King said. ‘I think it was a homerun on many levels.’
King, who attended the awards ceremony alongside Winfrey and Graham, said being in the room was ‘electrifying.’
‘It was the right person giving the right speech at the right time,’ King said.