As speculation resurfaces about Oprah Winfrey’s name on the presidential ballot in 2020, President Donald Trump has wasted no time in asserting his power.
“Yeah, I’ll beat Oprah,” he said Tuesday.
Trump made the assertion during a meeting with U.S. senators to discuss immigration reform.
“Oprah would be a lot of fun. I know her very well. You know, I did one of her last shows. She had Donald Trump — this was before politics — her last week, and she had Donald Trump and my family. It was very nice. No, I like Oprah. I don’t think she’s gonna run. I don’t think she’s gonna run. I know her very well.”
The possibility of a Winfrey bid for the presidency has been rumored before. Renewed calls for her to enter politics came about Sunday after she delivered a powerful speech at the Golden Globe Awards.
At the moment, though, it may not be the first thing on her mind. Gayle King, a close friend of Winfrey’s, said that she doesn’t believe Winfrey is considering it right now.
“I do think she’s intrigued by the idea, I do think that,” King said on “CBS This Morning.” “I also know that after years of watching ‘The Oprah [Winfrey] Show’ you always have the right to change your mind. I don’t think at this point she’s actually considering it.”
Trump’s remarks about Winfrey seemed uncharacteristic of the president, although he has spoken highly of the talk show host in the past. In 1999 Trump even named Winfrey as a potential vice president if he decided to run for president.
In an interview, Winfrey said President Trump’s win made her rethink whether or not she could become President of the United States.
“She’s popular, she’s brilliant, she’s a wonderful woman,” he said in an interview with Larry King. “It would be a pretty good ticket.”
However, Trump has shown that past affections bear no weight when someone becomes his competition as he quickly reverts to insults and smear tactics.
He demonstrated this when running against Hillary Clinton in the presidential election. The two were previously friendly; Bill and Hillary Clinton attended Trump’s wedding to Melania, and the men played golf together. Trump once said after visiting the Clinton White House, “The First Lady is a wonderful woman who has handled pressure incredibly well.”
His tune went very sour during election season, though — surpassing that of usual politics. Among other things, Trump accused Clinton of playing the woman card during the election, said she got “schlonged” (Yiddish slang for a man’s genitals) in the 2008 Democratic presidential race against then Sen. Barack Obama and called her an “enabler” of Bill Clinton’s infidelity.
