Oprah ‘intrigued’ by speculation, Gayle King says
TV host clarified comments from Winfrey’s beau about presidential-run rumours
NEW YORK — Oprah Winfrey isn’t “actively considering” a presidential run 2020, but the daytime TV powerhouse is “intrigued,” best friend Gayle King says.
“I do think she’s intrigued by the idea. I do think that,” CBS This Morning co-host King said on Tuesday’s broadcast of the show. “She loves this country and would like to be of service in some way, but I don’t think that she’s actively considering it.”
Winfrey’s rousing nine-minute speech at the Golden Globes on Sunday night left many wondering if the longtime TV host has presidential ambitions.
While accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award, she addressed the sexu- al harassment blighting Hollywood and promised a “new day is on the horizon.”
King described being in the room as “electrifying,” and said producers wanted her to originally keep it to three minutes.
“She really did want to speak to young girls around the country,” King said. Longtime beau Stedman Graham, after Winfrey’s Sunday night speech, signalled Winfrey might run.
“It’s up to the people,” Graham told the Los Angeles Times. “She would absolutely do it.”
But, King said Tuesday, he mistook what the reporter asked him.
“Stedman says that he thought the reporter said to him, ‘Would she make a good president?’ and he said absolutely she would,” King insisted.
“Stedman would never so cavalierly say, ‘Absolutely she would do it,’ ” King continued. “It’s up to the people. He would never do that.”