Zinger Key Points
- Oprah Winfrey is one of the most popular celebrities in the world.
- In 2019, Winfrey explored a political campaign as a candidate for vice president according to a new book.
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The story of Oprah Winfrey has been inspiring for many with the media mogul being born into poverty and going on to become the world’s first Black billionaire in the year 2000.
While Winfrey has accomplished many things in her lifetime, she nearly added a run for president to the list of her career accomplishments.
What Happened: The 2020 presidential election was won by Democrat Joe Biden, who defeated Republican Donald Trump in his re-election bid.
With a worry that Biden might not be able to defeat Trump, Winfrey explored the option of creating an independent ticket that could stop his re-election campaign.
A new excerpt from the upcoming book “Romney: A Reckoning” by McKay Coppins revealed Winfrey came up with the idea of an independent ticket with herself as the vice president candidate and Mitt Romney serving as the presidential candidate.
Winfrey put forth the plan as she felt that the Democratic party wasn’t going to defeat Trump in the 2020 election, as shared by the New York Times.
According to the book set for an Oct. 24 release, Winfrey placed a phone call with Romney’s wife Ann Romney in November 2019 and later spoke to Mitt. In the conversation with Mrs. Romney, Winfrey shared that Michael Bloomberg could be entering the 2020 election and approached Winfrey to join the ticket.
The former presidential candidate Romney listened to Winfrey's pitch but passed on the idea. Mrs. Romney also told Winfrey that her husband wouldn’t run in the 2020 election and politely turned down the pitch.
A spokesperson for Winfrey told the New York Times that the media mogul urged Romney to run, but was not part of the presidential ticket.
“In November 2019, Ms. Winfrey called Senator Romney to encourage him to run on an independent ticket. She was not calling to be part of the ticket and was never considering running herself,” a spokesperson told the New York Times.
The upcoming book included the details from hours of interviews with Romney and the analysis of emails, texts and journals saved by the politician.
Why It’s Important: Winfrey has been a name that has been mentioned in past elections as a potential political candidate.
“I am actually humbled by the fact that people think that I could be a leader of the free world, but it’s just not in my spirit. It’s not in my DNA,” Winfrey previously said.
Romney is the former governor of Massachusetts and a current U.S. Senator for the state of Utah.
Romney ran for president in the 2008 election, losing to John McCain in the GOP primary race. In the 2012 election, Romney secured the GOP nomination and went on to lose in the general election to Democrat Barack Obama who was successfully re-elected as president.
Romney announced he is not running for re-election for the Senate, prompting rumors he could be a vice presidential candidate. Romney has shot down the notion but is working to unify the Republican party with a nominee that can beat Trump.
Romney has previously said Trump and Biden should both drop out of the 2024 presidential election as neither is capable of leading their parties.
The report of a potential Romney and Winfrey independent ticket that could have helped take votes from Trump in the 2020 election came as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently ended his run as a Democratic candidate for the 2024 presidential election to run as an Independent.
Both Republicans and Democrats have been critical of Kennedy’s move, believing it could take votes from both Trump and Biden, with an unclear picture on who could be hurt the most.
Read Next: 2024 Presidential Election Betting Odds
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