Oprah Winfrey became the first black woman to receive the Cecil B. DeMille award at the Golden Globes Sunday night, and her acceptance speech left audiences wondering if she was beginning her 2020 presidential campaign.
Before being called to the stage, Seth Meyers mentioned his 2011 performance at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner where he joked that Donald Trump was not qualified to be president.
“Some have said that night convinced him to run,” Meyers said. “So, if that’s true, I just want to say: Oprah, you will never be president! You do not have what it takes.”
Roughly an hour later, Winfrey used her acceptance speech as a platform to speak on the topics of gender, race and the fight for equality as reoccurring issues in both the film industry and elsewhere.
“But it’s not just a story affecting the entertainment industry. It’s one that transcends any culture, geography, race, religion, politics or workplace,” Winfrey said before announcing how proud she was of the women who have come forward with personal stories of abuse.
“For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dare speak the truth to the power of those men,” Winfrey said. “But their time is up.”
This powerful speech resulted in a media uproar of support for Winfrey running in the next presidential race in 2020.
Winfrey has been considering the idea and, according to Rolling Stones, has hinted before that she might run for president of the United States.
Negative feedback surfaced also. President Trump stated, “Yeah, I’ll beat Oprah,” on Tuesday to members of Congress in the Cabinet Room.
Press Secretary Sarah Sanders responded during an interview with CNN, stating, “Is she a successful individual? Absolutely. But in terms of where she stands on a number of positions, I would find a number of problems with that.”
“I think she has a lot of experience, and I think she’s a peacemaker. So, I think she would make a good president,” WSU sophomore Abbey Dunford said.
“I think being a celebrity doesn’t really have anything to do with it as long as you stand for what you believe in and are a good leader,” Dunford said.
Student Landon Kartchner expressed the simplicity of his decision if the election came down to Winfrey or Trump.
“I would vote Oprah because she seems to have more things going for her than Trump does,” Kartchner said.
Although Winfrey denied the notion of seeking candidacy for POTUS in September, and again in October, as stated by the Times, Trump’s victory has made her rethink the requirements of the office.
