Fans call on Oprah to run for president
Twitter frenzy after rousing speech at awards
OPRAH Winfrey fans lit up Twitter yesterday with calls for her to run for US president after the entertainment star gave an inspiring speech at an awards show in support of those who have exposed sexual misconduct in Hollywood and beyond. A surge of tweets carrying #Oprahforpresident and #Oprah2020 hashtags followed her speech at the Golden Globes, where Winfrey became the first black woman to receive a lifetime achievement award on Sunday.
Winfrey, an actress, movie and television producer, and chief executive of her OWN cable channel, is actively thinking about a run, CNN reported yesterday, citing two of her close friends. CNN did not name the friends. Sunday’s award ceremony honoured Winfrey, 63, as a role model for women.
“In a nine-minute speech, @Oprah was more presidential than the occupant of the White House has been for an entire year,” Khary Penebaker, a member of the Democratic National Committee, wrote on Twitter, referring to Republican President Donald Trump.
“That speech was everything. #timesup #oprahforpresident,” Boston television personality Cassy Arsenault tweeted in one of many calls for Winfrey to run in the next US presidential election.
Trump also powered his successful 2016 campaign on the back of his celebrity reputation from reality TV show The Apprentice, as well as long-cultivated attention in New York newspapers.
In recent years, Winfrey has lent her star power to endorse Democratic presidential candidates: Barack Obama when he was seeking to become the first black US president in 2008 and Hillary Clinton in her campaign against Trump in 2016. In the past, Winfrey has said she is not interested in running for president.
Asked about the 2020 presidential election in a CBS interview in October she said: “There will be no running for office of any kind for me.”
However, the Los Angeles Times quoted Stedman Graham, Winfrey’s longtime business and life partner as saying: “It’s up to the people. She would absolutely do it.”
The awards show, Hollywood’s first leading up to the Oscars, was dominated by a scandal that has seen dozens of powerful men in US entertainment, politics and the media accused of sexual abuse or harassment.
Winfrey, who along with most of the show’s other women attendees wore a black gown to show support for victims of sexual misconduct, was the first black woman to receive the Cecil B DeMille award, joining the likes of Meryl Streep, Steven Spielberg, Barbra Streisand and Sophia Loren.
South Africa’s Miss Universe, Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, joined the throngs of Hollywood A-listers by also wearing black to the awards ceremony.
“I really want to support the initiative. I think it’s amazing and I take my hat off to every woman who has had the courage to come forward and tell her story,” she said.
Winfrey used her speech to praise women who have shared their stories of sexual harassment and abuse, and to declare that a new day is on the horizon for girls and women.
“When that new day finally dawns it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men, are fighting hard to make sure they become leaders that take us to the time where nobody has to say ‘me too’ again,” Winfrey said, referring to the #MeToo social media movement raising awareness about sexual harassment. – Reuters