While it’s easy to feed into the politically-charged insult game perpetuated by the media, Oprah Winfrey is taking a little different approach to recent comments made by President Trump.
Regardless of whether you’re in the pro- or anti-Trump club, few can argue that there have been some statements from our President that have been made in ‘questionable’ taste, to say the least.
After an impassioned Golden Globes speech by Oprah earlier this year, a nationwide call for the TV show host to run for President circulated social media. As the world’s first multi-billionaire African-American and a woman with an undeniable cult following, she appeared to many to be a viable candidate.
However, Oprah has since stated that she doesn’t have any current intent to run for office, as she hasn’t heard from God on the issue.
“I’ve never looked outside for other people to tell me when I should be making a move. And wouldn’t I know?” she said on ’60 Minutes Overtime.’ “Because if God actually wanted me to run, wouldn’t God kind of tell me? And I haven’t heard that. I do feel that I have a responsibility as a person who has a big voice in this country to use it to promote justice and kindness and goodwill in the world, but it has never felt to me that that was supposed to be political — and it still does not feel that to me. So I am actually humbled by the fact that people think that I could be a leader of the free world, but it’s just not in my spirit, it’s not my DNA.”
Still, the hype surrounding the possibility of her running has ignited a few spicy comments from Trump on Twitter.
“Just watched a very insecure Oprah Winfrey, who at one point I knew very well, interview a panel of people on 60 Minutes,” tweeted Trump after her recent interview. “The questions were biased and slanted, the facts incorrect. Hope Oprah runs so she can be exposed and defeated just like all of the others!”
Just watched a very insecure Oprah Winfrey, who at one point I knew very well, interview a panel of people on 60 Minutes. The questions were biased and slanted, the facts incorrect. Hope Oprah runs so she can be exposed and defeated just like all of the others!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2018
Later, in a Pennsylvania rally, he added that he would “love” to “beat” Oprah, stating he knew “her weakness.”
In response, Oprah simply refused to feed into the accusations.
When show host Van Jones asked her what she would say in response if she got 10 minutes with Trump, Oprah simply replied, “I wouldn’t. I would only speak if I felt that I could be heard.”
“I would only speak if I felt that I could be heard,” @Oprah tells @VanJones68 after he asks her what she would say if she had 10 minutes with President Trump #VanJonesShow https://t.co/N7u4pDAaqc pic.twitter.com/tfOrAS9B9F
— CNN (@CNN) March 12, 2018
And this isn’t the first time she’s stopped herself from engaging with the character attacks. She recently opened up on “Ellen” about her thoughts on Trump’s comments:
“I don’t like giving negativity power, so I just thought, ‘What?’ What I actually really did was I went back and looked at the tape to see if there was any place that that could be true. Did I feel like it was slanted or biased? I went back and looked at every tape; I called the producers.”
Oprah also decided to give a little advice to potential future candidates for the 2020 election:
“I will say to whoever is going to run for office, do not give your energy to the other side. Do not spend all your time talking about your opponents. Do not give your energy to that which you really don’t believe in. Do not spend an ounce of your time on that.”
Her class-act replies have seen praise from both sides of the political spectrum by people who can appreciate a high-profile celeb taking the high road when it would be very easy to lash back instead.
Regardless of party affiliation, that’s certainly something our culture could use a little more of. Kudos to Oprah for stunting the negativity in a world that feeds off of it.
