Oprah Winfrey encourages Americans to “take a deep breath”
Oprah Winfrey is feeling hopeful for the future.
Following the results of the 2016 election, which declared Donald Trump the 45th president of the United States over Hillary Clinton earlier this week, ET caught up with the 62-year-old media mogul on the set of her OWN series, “Greenleaf,” in Georgia.
When Brooke Anderson asked if she would ever run for office one day in hopes of becoming the first female president, Winfrey laughed, implying a hard no.
“That will never happen to me!” Winfrey, who endorsed Democratic hopeful Clinton in the election, exclaimed. “I think we have, you know, we... America has spoken. That is the one thing I can say will never happen to me.”
She is, however, looking forward to moving on from Clinton’s election loss, and has found comfort in our future leader after watching Trump pay a visit to President Barack Obama at the White House on Thursday.
“I just saw the two of them together, I will say this: I just saw President-elect Trump with President Obama in the White House and it gave me hope,” she said. “To hear President-elect Trump say that he had respect for President Obama, it felt that he had reached a moment where he was actually humbled by that experience.”
“To hear President Obama say that he has renewed confidence in the peaceful transition, I think everybody can take a deep breath,” she continued. “Everybody can take a deep breath now! Thank you.”
Winfrey admitted that even just saying those words out loud made her feel better.
“I feel good. I feel good,” she said, adding, “Thank you. Thank you, thank you.”
She echoed those same sentiments during an interview with the Associated Press on Thursday, telling the outlet, “Hope is still alive.”
“I could sense, maybe I’m wrong, but I could sense from Donald Trump’s body language even when he came out for the acceptance speech, that brotha has been humbled by this world thing,” she continued. “I think it’s a humbling process that now you literally have the weight of the world on your shoulders.”
Back in June, ET chatted with Winfrey about Clinton, and what it would be like to witness the politician make history as the first female to be elected as president.
“I really believe that is going to happen,” she said at the time. “It’s about time that we make that decision.”
“Regardless of your politics, it’s a seminal moment for women,” she added. “What this says is, there is no ceiling, that ceiling just went boom! It says anything is possible when you can be leader of the free world.”
