By Rich McKay
(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump blasted media mogul Oprah Winfrey on Twitter on Sunday night over a segment on CBS’s 60 Minutes program and again said he hoped she would face him as an opponent in the 2020 presidential race.
Actress and television host Winfrey, now a contributor to the CBS program, led a panel of 14 Republican, Democrat and Independent voters from Grand Rapids, Michigan in a wide ranging discussion about Trump’s first year in office.
Trump tweeted: “Just watched a very insecure Oprah Winfrey, who at one point I knew very well, interview a panel of people on 60 Minutes. The questions were biased and slanted, the facts incorrect. Hope Oprah runs so she can be exposed and defeated just like all of the others!”
Just watched a very insecure Oprah Winfrey, who at one point I knew very well, interview a panel of people on 60 Minutes. The questions were biased and slanted, the facts incorrect. Hope Oprah runs so she can be exposed and defeated just like all of the others!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2018
Winfrey has told various media outlets, including Entertainment Weekly, that she is not running for president, but has considered it, after there was much recent media speculation.
The panelists ranged from voters who said “I love him more and more every day,” to others questioning Trump’s stability, saying, “All he does is bully people.”
Winfrey made no declarative statements for or against the president in the program. But she did ask questions ranging from whether the country is better off economically to whether respect for the country is eroding around the world.
For instance, some of Oprah’s questions on 60 Minutes read as follows:
A sample the questions that Oprah Winfrey asked her @60Minutes panel – put together by @FrankLuntzhttps://t.co/dupeiv8KHz pic.twitter.com/IF3L3xCSwb
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) February 19, 2018
Oprah reiterated on 60 Minutes Overtime that she wasn’t planning on running for President in 2020 — much like she did last month when declaring she doesn’t have the DNA for it. “Because if God actually wanted me to run, wouldn’t God kind of tell me?” Oprah challenged. “And I haven’t heard that.”
(Reporting by Rich McKay; Editing by Michael Perry)
