Oprah Winfrey sparked speculation of a potential 2020 run for president after delivering a moving speech at the Golden Globes Sunday evening as she accepted a lifetime achievement award.
Donning black like many other celebrities to make a statement about sexual harassment, Winfrey paid homage to the press and to victims of sexual abuse as she accepted the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement.
“I want all the girls watching here and now to know that a new day is on the horizon.” Winfrey said.
“And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say, ‘me too’ again.”
Winfrey in an interview after the show denied that she is preparing to run for president, but the speculation had already begun, and her first name was trending in the nation’s capital Monday morning.
Stedman Graham, Winfrey’s partner for the last several decades, told The Los Angeles Times that a run for the Oval Office could happen.
“It’s up to the people,” Graham said. “She would absolutely do it.”
But “CBS This Morning” host Gayle King on Tuesday said Stedman misunderstood the reporter’s question.
“Well I do think that’s interesting because Stedman says that he thought the reporter said to him ‘would she make a good president’ and he said ‘absolutely she would,'” King said on the show.
“That’s how he interpreted the question, because this is the thing. Stedman would never so cavalierly say absolutely she would do it. It’s up to the people. He would never do that.”
Winfrey’s speech quickly garnered praise on Twitter, with some users using the #Oprah2020 hashtag.
Even NBC’s main Twitter account lauded Winfrey, referring to her as “OUR future president.”
Nothing but respect for OUR future president. #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/h4hkjewu0K
— NBC (@nbc) January 8, 2018
–This report was updated Jan. 9 at 9:40 a.m.