'I Think She's Intrigued': King Talks About Oprah's Political Plans
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Oprah Winfrey's rousing speech at the Golden Globes has the political world buzzing about the media mogul possibly becoming the first female president.
Her best friend CBS This Morning co-host Gayle King weighed in on the speculation Tuesday.
She had a lot to say on whether the media mogul may make a run at the White House. She says after years of watching the Oprah show you always have a right to change your mind.
"I do think she's intrigued by the idea," said King. "I don't think at this point she is actually considering it."
Sunday was a historic night for Winfrey, a 60 Minutes special contributor. She became the first black woman to receive the Cecil B. Demille Lifetime Achievement Award.
"A new day is on the horizon," said Oprah during her Golden Globes speech.
Now, some seem to think, even hope, that Winfrey's words could have doubled as a campaign rallying cry. The internet quickly ran with the hashtag Oprah 2020 Sunday night.
Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York is among the lawmakers publicly urging Oprah to follow her gut.
"Her voice is powerful and important and whatever she wants to do I think she should do," said Sen. Gillibrand.
Oprah herself seemed to put the matter to rest on CBS This Morning in October.
"Well, you can-- you can be safe with that. There will be no running for office of any kind for me," said Oprah.
But then Winfrey's longtime partner Steadman Graham stoked the fire, telling the LA Times that Winfrey would absolutely run for president if the people want her to.
King says he misunderstood the question.
"Stedman says he thought the reporter said to him would she make a good president and he said absolutely she would," said Stedman.
A White House spokesperson told reporters, "We welcome the challenge, whether it's Oprah Winfrey or anybody else."
A poll last year pegged Winfrey's approval rating well above Trump's but nearly 70 percent of those respondents also said she should not run for president.
