Talk-show host Oprah Winfrey knocked down speculation that she could be a US presidential candidate in 2020, saying in a magazine interview published Thursday that running for office was not in her nature.
“I met with someone the other day who said that they would help me with a campaign. That’s not for me,” she told fashion magazine InStyle.
Interest in the media mogul surged among members of the opposition Democratic Party after her January 7 speech at the Golden Globes awards gala, where Winfrey accepted a lifetime achievement award.
Media reports in the days that followed suggested she might be considering a run.
In the InStyle interview, she described having recently seen a “cute” coffee mug emblazoned with “Oprah 2020.”
“All you need is a mug and some campaign literature and a T-shirt,” Winfrey said.
“I’ve always felt very secure and confident with myself in knowing what I could do and what I could not. And so it’s not something that interests me. I don’t have the DNA for it.”
President Donald Trump, himself a former reality television star, said on January 9 that he doubted Winfrey would be a candidate.
“I like Oprah. I don’t think she is going to run,” Trump told reporters during a cabinet meeting at the White House.(dpa/NAN)