Famed talk show host and billionaire Oprah Winfrey has responded to buzz about a potential presidential run by saying that she would need a “sign from God” if she were to seriously consider the idea.
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Following her widely praised speech at this year’s Golden Globe Awards, in which she declared that “a new day is dawning,” there were feverish calls for the celebrity to run for office. At the time, however, Oprah flatly denied any intention of entering the political realm.
But her latest comments indicate that the 64-year-old is not completely writing off a shot at the Oval Office.
“I pay attention, and when you have that many people saying something, I thought well gee, I never in my life, ever, ever, imagined that I would be in politics,” she told PEOPLE magazine in an interview published this week. “I’ve always said no no no no no.”
Oprah explained that she has received widespread support for a potential residential bid, with many wealthy and influential people offering to both finance and run her campaign.
“I’ve had enough people—billionaires —calling me up and saying, ‘I can get you a billion dollars. I can run your campaign’ and I actually went into prayer about it,” she said.
“‘God, if you think I’m supposed to run, you gotta tell me, and it has to be so clear that not even I can miss it,'” Oprah recalled praying. “And I haven’t gotten that.”
Since calls for #Oprah2020 started trending on social media, the television icon, estimated to possess a net worth of just under $3 billion, was quick to shut down the speculation.
“I’ve always felt very secure and confident with myself in knowing what I could do and what I could not. And so it’s not something that interests me. I don’t have the DNA for it… that’s not for me,” she told InStyle magazine following the Golden Globes buzz.
Today Show anchor Kathie Lee Gifford, who last week paid an emotional tribute to the late evangelist Billy Graham and is very open on-air about her spirituality, urged Oprah to listen to the Lord when making what could be an utterly life-altering decision.
“I think she’s smart to listen to God and nobody else,” she told TMZ. “Only God tells people what his signs are. I listen to God’s signs in my life. I think she should listen to God like all of us should.”
But despite the persistent speculation over her political ambitions, Oprah claims that her central passion is to make people happy.
“Nothing makes me happier than to see other people in their purest moments of joy,” she shared with PEOPLE. “Sometimes, honest to goodness, I’m just sitting around thinking, “What could I do to make somebody feel really good today?”
(H/T: PEOPLE)