A soon-to-be-released book by McKay Collins makes the bombshell claim that Oprah Winfrey and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) discussed creating an independent ticket in 2020 to thwart reelection efforts by then-President Donald Trump. According to the book, Winfrey pitched the idea in an effort to “save the country.” Winfrey has since denied the claim.
“In November 2019, Ms. Winfrey called Senator Romney to encourage him to run on an Independent ticket,” A spokesperson for Winfrey told The Hollywood Reporter. “She was not calling to be part of the ticket and was never considering running herself.”
Oprah asked Mitt Romney to run in 2020 to thwart Trump, book claims https://t.co/n1ESsa2c8w pic.twitter.com/6AEvtEHy2F
— New York Post (@nypost) October 17, 2023
This is not the first time that rumors of a presidential run involving Oprah have emerged. In 2018, at the height of Trump’s presidency, Winfrey delivered a speech at the Golden Globes Awards, calling for women to become the “new leaders.” Speculation immediately began about a potential run in 2020 to unseat Trump.
Public polling at the time showed that despite Winfrey’s popularity as a talk show host, actress, and philanthropist, a majority of Americans would not support her in a contest against Trump. The poll by PBS found that 54% of voters were against the idea.
It is no surprise that Winfrey is distancing herself from the comments by Romney in the upcoming book as polling consistently showed that Winfrey had no chance in a showdown with Trump. Romney’s own campaign against former President Barack Obama was a dumpster fire that eroded any confidence voters had and directly led to the emergence of Trump ahead of the 2016 campaign.
Despite poor polling results, Winfrey would have made a better candidate for VP than current Vice President Kamala Harris whose term has been marred by constant exposure of her flaws and faults. Harris is one of the most unpopular VPs in modern history and has massively failed in every task set before her. Harris is significantly responsible for the calamity at the southern border that has seen more than 4 million immigrants enter the country, many illegally, since she took office.
Though the Romney-Winfrey ticket never got off the ground, it appears that the only policy Winfrey cared about was beating Trump. Her abject hatred for the former President was not enough to convince Romney, who will retire from politics at the end of his current term.
The book, due this week, is titled Romney: A Reckoning. The book promises to reveal an insider view of the senator from Utah who was also a former Massachusetts governor. In the book, Romney claims that he even considered a joint effort with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in 2015 as a means of blocking Trump from running for President.
