Oprah Winfrey says she never seriously considered presidential run: 'So happy I'm not in any of it'

Todd Garrin

Television icon Oprah Winfrey put rumors of a 2020 presidential run to bed on Monday during her appearance on CBS This Morning.

Winfrey stopped by the morning show to announce the first selection for her book club collaboration with Apple, The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates.

When asked point-blank by co-host Tony Dokoupil if she ever seriously considered running for president, Winfrey said, “No, I didn’t.” She added, “It’s the kind of thing I think you feel in your gut, your soul, your being. You know if that’s the thing you’re supposed to do in your life.”

The top talker also revealed she turned down an offer to moderate one of the presidential debates. “I was also asked to moderate one of the debates, and I didn’t even want to do that,” said Winfrey.

“I’m like, so happy I’m not in any of it,” she added.

Winfrey weighed in on what she says is the biggest misstep for presidential candidates.

“I think a lot of the candidates make the biggest mistakes, and certainly that happened in the previous election. There’s a natural law that says ‘what you give your attention to expands,’ so you should not talk about the other guy because you only empower your opponents when you talk about them,” she said. “You should talk about what you are going to do and, as little as possible, not discuss what the other guy is doing.”

Viewers on Twitter were split over Winfrey declining to moderate a presidential debate. Some applauded her for not getting involved in politics, but others felt that she should never have been considered in the first place:

Despite Winfrey’s lack of presidential ambitions, some felt she should run and would even have a good chance of success.

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