Since the Golden Globes Awards, everyone seems to be talking about encouraging Oprah Winfrey to run for president in 2019. Americans need to consider that she and President Donald Trump are two peas in a pod.
Forget the fact that one is black and the other is white. Both are self-focused billionaires with only one thing in mind, their respective self-interests.
- They are TV celebrities.
- Neither has a law degree or political background.
- Each of them exhibits bigoted behavior.
- He is worth $3.7 billion.
- Her net worth is $2.8 billion.
Their values are much the same. In fact, so much so that Trump mentioned in 1999 and again in 2015 that he would like to have Winfrey as a running mate. Like the president, Winfrey’s ideas suggest she will claim to promote populist theology.
A populist “always claim[s] that they — and they alone — properly represent the people, or what they frequently call the real people or the silent majority,” according to Jan-Werner Müller, Professor of Politics at Princeton University. He added:
Plus, populists positively want confrontation and conflict. They want to keep a Kulturkampf going, as long as they think they can prove that their supporters are indeed the real people, the authentic majority, opposed only by a minority that betrays the homeland.
If a Kulturkampf is Trump’s objective, he is doing a splendid job! Creating a culture conflict caused the sharp divide that significantly increased after he won the presidency.
Duke University professor Kate Bowler compared the pair. She explains that while claiming to be Christians, they worship at the same pulpit, which teaches the prosperity gospel. Trump swears using the theory is the only way to become successful, as he explains in “The Art of the Deal.”
Whereas, the theory Winfrey touts comes from a New Age guru/author, Rhonda Byrne. In “The Secret,” uses “the Law of Attraction, [which] is that positive thinking is the route to obtaining what you want in life, while negative thoughts will cause bad events to occur.”
Why would America choose to live through another unconventional candidacy, much less elect another eccentric billionaire TV star whose true intent is hidden?
RoseAnn DeMoro, asks the same questions when she spoke of Winfrey running for president. She said:
The nation doesn’t need another celebrity candidate without a record. We just did this, and it’s called Donald Trump.
Since increasing the rift in America is Trump’s continued objective and Winfrey shares the same values, the natural conclusion is — she should not run for office.
If for some unholy reason the 2020 ticket reads: Donald J. Trump, incumbent versus Oprah Winfrey then America take cover. She will carry the black vote and their supporters. Whereas, the president’s voters were and most likely would be separatists. The hate crimes will rise, and the division will continue to grow no matter which candidate wins, America will be the loser.
Opinion by Cathy Milne
Sources:
Bloomberg: Why Donald Trump Really Is a Populist
Vanity Fair: Golden Globes 2018: Read Oprah’s Entire Showstopping Acceptance Speech
The Sacramento Bee: California progressive on Oprah 2020: We don’t need our own Donald Trump
Time Magazine: Top 10 Oprah Controversies
Time Magazine: Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump Promote the Same Populist Theology
NPR: Oprah 2020? People Are Asking After Golden Globes Speech
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Alan Light’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License