Oprah Confirms She's Not Running For President…For Real This Time

From her lips to America’s ears. Oprah Winfrey has confirmed that she is definitely not running for president.

From a live SuperSoul Conversation podcast taping in New York City on Wednesday, Senior Features Writer Arianna Davis reported that Oprah Winfrey and Lin-Manuel Miranda, the man behind the 11-time Tony Award winning musical, Hamilton, discussed the importance of authenticity when you’re pursuing what you're passionate about.

Davis tweeted:

"You heard it here first: Oprah just confirmed at her live chat with Lin Manuel Miranda at #SuperSoulConversations in NYC that she is NOT running for office. #Oprah2020."

Miranda said he’s content to focus on what he’s good at: Broadway and musicals.

"I’m not running for office!" he said. To which Oprah responded, “I’m not either!”

After cheers and applause from the audience, Miranda added: “I’d argue Oprah is a more powerful position than president.”

The full conversation will be featured on Oprah’s SuperSoul podcast and will also air on OWN on Feb 27. Additional guests included Yara Shahidi, Jordan Peele, Trevor Noah, Stephen Colbert and Salma Hayek.

Speculation about a potential Oprah 2020 presidential run reached a fever pitch after her rousing speech at the Golden Globes in which she declared: “I want all the girls watching here, now, to know that a new day is on the horizon!”

At the time, CNN reported that two of her close friends anonymously said she is "actively thinking" about it, although she hasn't made up her mind. Her longtime partner, Stedman Graham, told The L.A. Times that if the people wanted it, "She would absolutely do it."

Still, this might seem like déjà vu. In an interview with InStyle last month, she said didn’t necessarily think running for president was something she would do.

"I’ve always felt very secure and confident with myself in knowing what I could do and what I could not," she told the magazine. "And so it’s not something that interests me. I don’t have the DNA for it." The InStyle interview was conducted before her speech at the Globes.

Even if Oprah has no plans to move from The Promised Land to the White House, as Refinery29 has noted before, there are plenty of black women who are running for office that could use our support.

"...[T]he burden isn’t on Black women to save us from ourselves, including in the political arena. The same applies to Oprah. We need to do our own work," Herman wrote. "Part of that work is electing Black women to office, because there are plenty who have committed to running and many who are in office and need continuous support."