The Golden Globes this past year continued the trend of celebrating the best of film and television celebrities standing for important issues, many of whom wore black in response to the toxic sexual harassment culture, such as Natalie Portman calling out the lack of recognition for female directors. But the highlight of the evening was Oprah Winfrey’s speech when she received the Cecil B. DeMille Award. Addressing the rampant sexual harassment that is prominent in society, Winfrey declared that “too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dare speak the truth to the power of those men. But their time is up. Their time is up. So I want all the girls watching here, now, to know that a new day is on the horizon!” And following that rousing speech, many speculated that Oprah was considering a presidential bid in the 2020 election.
And for the most part, I don’t see it. While the speech was thought-provoking, nothing about screamed “Oprah 2020” for me. I’ve seen the same thing happen when headlines speculated that Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren was considering a bid, because of accumulated donations. But despite that, there has been little aside from a released book to suggest this. Be sure to check out FiveThirtyEight’s seven potential signs that someone might run for president in 2020.
Following the awards show, I remember seeing many friends show interest and support for a possible Oprah Winfrey presidency. And to them I say, you don’t want that. You think you do, but you don’t want this. And I’m not saying that she wouldn’t be a terrible choice; I’m saying that I’ve been in your place before. Back in 2013, comedian John Oliver was covering for Daily Show host Jon Stewart, and when covering a story about Donald Trump considering running for president, Oliver challenged Trump by saying, America “does not want you to be president, but which badly wants you to run.” And in that moment, I agreed to it because I thought it was funny at the time. So, on behalf of the wellbeing of this nation, please don’t make the same mistake I did five years ago.
Oprah’s speech was powerful, without a doubt. But, there isn’t much evidence that shows that she should be on the radar. And despite the fact that the last election was a cautionary tale to expect the unexpected, it’s still too soon to tell if she will run.