Fueled by tweets and leaks, the “Oprah Winfrey for president” bandwagon got turbocharged Sunday night.
That was followed by Amy Kaufman of the Los Angeles Times tweeting that she had spoken to Winfrey’s boyfriend of three decades, Stedman Graham.
“It’s up to the people,” he said at the Beverly Hills Hilton of a White House run. “She would absolutely do it.”
Steven Zeitchik of The Washington Post tweeted: “Asked Meryl Streep what she thought of Oprah’s speech. Her answer: ‘She launched a rocket tonight. I want her to run for president. I don’t think she had any intention [of declaring]. But now she doesn’t have a choice.'”
Asked Meryl Streep what she thought of Oprah’s speech. Her answer: “She launched a rocket tonight. I want her to run for president. I don’t think she had any intention [of declaring]. But now she doesn’t have a choice.”
— Steven Zeitchik (@ZeitchikWaPo) January 8, 2018
I asked Stedman if @oprah would run for President. “It’s up to the people. She would absolutely do it.” https://t.co/rAficpB060
— Amy Kaufman (@AmyKinLA) January 8, 2018
Of course, Winfrey has denied such aspirations in the past.
But her speech — ending with “I want all the girls watching here, now, to know that a new day is on the horizon!” and calling for men and women “leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say ‘Me too’ again” — was taken as a cue to fire up the 2020 campaign.
On Monday, CNN’s Brian Stelter wrote that Winfrey is “actively thinking” about running for president, citing two of her close friends.
“The two friends … talked in the wake of Winfrey’s extraordinary speech at the Golden Globes Sunday night,” he wrote. “The person emphasized that Winfrey has not made up her mind about running.”