Oprah Winfrey already has one big supporter if she ever decides to run for President of the United States.
Oprah Winfrey already has one big supporter if she ever decides to run for President of the United States.
In a new interview with The Guardian, Steven Spielberg says he's all for Winfrey possibly coming for the White House. Spielberg directed Winfrey in 1985's The Color Purple.
“I think Oprah Winfrey would make an absolutely brilliant president,” he tells The Guardian. “If she declares, I will back her.”
“She is crackerjack on the money on women’s issues and I call her the ambassador of empathy," he continues. "And our country could use a dose of empathy right now. She’s been on the air for 35 years with all kinds of social outreach, building bridges between different ideologies and different points of view.”
When asked if Winfrey had the skill set to be president, Spielberg took a dig at Donald Trump.
“Does our current president have the skill set to be president?” he asks. "I think we need a mindful, empathetic human being in the White House who understands people and puts people ahead of their own ideas of power and self-aggrandizement -- and I think Oprah has already proved her capacity for selflessness.”
“I think she’ll learn on the job the same way Bill Clinton learned -- a former governor of Arkansas -- or Barack Obama, a junior senator, learned on the job," he adds. "I’d much rather go for someone like Oprah Winfrey than a career politician. ...[I'd] like the next president to be a president of the people."
ET spoke to Oprah's BFF, Gayle King, on Tuesday, when she talked about the 63-year-old's media mogul's electrifying speech at the 2018 Golden Globes on Sunday. King said Winfrey wasn't expecting the explosive reaction she got after the powerful moment.
"I do think she is intrigued, [but] that doesn’t mean she is thinking about running," she told ET about Winfrey possibly running for president. "I do think that the speech was a different moment for her. ...She knew that she met the moment, but the reaction to the speech has been sort of overwhelming to her."
King also shared that people are excited about even the possibility of Winfrey running for the highest office in the land.
"I have people calling me -- very important names that I won't name -- who said, 'I will be her campaign manager. I will quit my job and campaign for her. I will do whatever it takes because I am so concerned about what’s happening,'" she revealed. "I think it is something that Oprah would have to feel and sense for herself. She’s not thinking that, 'Oh, since I did this speech, I qualify to be president or I even want to be president.'"
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