Media mogul, Oprah Winfrey gave a rousing Golden Globes speech to honour those who have spoken up about sexual assault in Hollywood and he speech has received an overwhelming response all over social media with people hoping she runs for US President in 2020.
The former TV host became the first black woman to win the Cecil B DeMille award during Sunday’s ceremony, and she used her public platform to shine a light on all the injustice and inequality experienced by women in every industry all over the world.
Twitter users went wild over the barnstorming speech. They called it “one of the greatest American speeches” and even joked that the former talk show host should make a run in 2020 – but her longtime partner, Stedman Graham, appeared to open the door to a battle with Donald Trump.
Stedman Graham, told The Los Angeles Times: “It’s up to the people. She would absolutely do it.”
Gayle King, Winfrey’s best friend, echoed Graham’s sentiments, telling the newspaper: “I thought that speech was incredible. I got goosebumps.”
This is the first time that anyone close to Oprah has admitted that the American icon has ambitions for the White House.
Winfrey’s emotional and barnstorming speech set off fevered speculation online that this could be construed as her first campaign speech. The call for Oprah to run for president was led by NBC’s official Twitter account, which declared Oprah to be “our future president” in what appeared to be an unprecedented endorsement. NBC did not amend the tweet during the evening.
The tweet came after host Seth Meyers made a joke in his monologue about a run by Winfrey.
Seth Meyers said: “In 2011, I told some jokes about our current president at the White House Correspondents Dinner. Jokes about how he was unqualified to be president.
“Some have said that night convinced him to run. So if that’s true, I just want to say: Oprah, you will never be president! You do not have what it takes!”
Actress Meryl Streep also gave a ringing endorsement when she was asked about Oprah’s speech by The Washington Post’s Steven Zeitchik.
“She launched a rocket tonight. I want her to run for president. I don’t think she had any intention [of declaring]. But now she doesn’t have a choice,” Streep said.
Several Twitter users also quickly declared that Oprah needed to make a run for the Oval Office.
“Did I just watch @Oprah first campaign speech?! #GoldenGlobes” wrote one person.
Another tweeted: “I mean, it’s been fun to joke about Oprah running for president, but that speech really was presidential. That was phenomenal, even by her standards.”
Oprah Winfrey began her speech by saying she hopes by accepting the award, the first black woman to do so, has an impact on young girls.
She said: “At this moment, there are some little girls watching as I become the first black woman to be given this award. I want all the girls watching to know: A new day is on the horizon. When that new day finally dawns, it will be because of the magnificent women and many of them are in this room tonight.”
She closed her speech with a call for unity: “I want all the girls watching to know a new day is on the horizon. And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men, fighting hard to make sure they are the leaders to take us to the time where nobody has to say ‘me too’ again.”
Watch Oprah’s full speech below.
