After Golden Globes Speech, Will Oprah Winfrey Run for President?

Oprah Winfrey’s stirring oration at last night’s Golden Globe Awards has led to speculation that the Mississippi native—the wealthiest African-American woman in the world—could run for president in 2020.
“It’s up to the people,” Winfrey’s longtime partner, Stedman Graham, told the Los Angeles Times. “She would absolutely do it.”
In her acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award, Winfrey spoke movingly about sexual abuse and the #MeToo movement—which kicked off in Hollywood after a harassment scandal involving film producer Harvey Weinstein.
“I want tonight to express gratitude to all the women who have endured years of abuse and assault because they, like my mother, had children to feed and bills to pay and dreams to pursue,” Winfrey said in her speech.
“They’re the women whose names we’ll never know. They are domestic workers and farm workers. They are working in factories, and they work in restaurants, and they’re in academia, engineering, medicine and science. They’re part of the world of tech and politics and business. They’re our athletes in the Olympics, and they’re our soldiers in the military.”
Winfrey, who was born in Kosciusko, Miss., also spoke of Recy Taylor, an African-American woman in Alabama who was abducted and raped by six men in 1964. Her attackers were never prosecuted.
Taylor “lived as we all have lived, too many years in a culture broken by brutally powerful men,” Winfrey said. “For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dared speak the truth to the power of those men. But their time is up. Their time is up.”
As the crowd sprang to its feet and applauded, Winfrey continued: “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.”
As the speech proceeded, the hashtag #oprah2020 began to trend as Twitter lit up with tweets from celebrities and everyday people alike who expressed hope that Winfrey would challenge President Trump in 2020.

Rick Hynum is editor-in-chief of HottyToddy.com. Email him at rick.hynum@hottytoddy.com.