Washington — Oprah Winfrey preached unity, while taking a light dig at former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, during the Democratic Convention Wednesday evening.
“There are people who want you to see our country as an ‘us versus them’ nation — people who want to scare you, who want to rule you,” she said. “People who want you to believe that books are dangerous and assault rifles are safe, that there is a right way to pray and a wrong way to love. People who seek to divide first and conquer second. But the problem is, when we are united, we cannot be conquered.”
“Despite what some would have you believe, we are not that different from our neighbors,” Winfrey said. “When a house is on fire, we don’t ask the race or religion of the homeowner, we don’t ask who their partner is or who they voted for. No. We just try to do the best we can to save them.”
And in reference to the comments Vance Made in 2021 about women who have cats and no children, she added: “And if the place is owned by a cat lady with no children, well, we try to get that cat out too.”
She denounced “ridiculous tweets, lies and nonsense” and criticized Trump’s comments that Christians would not have to vote again if they voted for him in November.
“There’s a certain candidate who says, ‘If we vote once, we’ll never have to vote again,’” she said. “Well, you know what, you’re dealing with a registered independent who’s proud to vote again and again and again, because I’m an American, and that’s what Americans do.”
She then sought to convince independent and undecided voters to support Vice President Kamala Harris and his running mate, the governor of Minnesota. Tim WalzShe argued that “values and character” are important and that “decency and respect” are on the agenda.
“Common sense tells us that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz can bring us decency and respect. They are the ones who give it to us,” she said. “Let us choose loyalty to the Constitution over loyalty to an individual, because that is what is best in America. And let us choose optimism over cynicism, because that is what is best in America. And let us choose inclusion over revenge. Let us choose common sense over absurdity, because that is what is best in America. And let us choose the sweet promise of tomorrow over the bitter return of yesterday. But above all else, let us choose freedom. Why? Because that is what is best in America.”
Winfrey refrained from endorsing politicians until 2008, when she endorsed Barack Obama just before the Iowa caucuses. She then endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016 and President Biden in 2020.
“She didn’t intend to get involved, to be honest with you, she tries to stay out of politics, I think,” Gayle King, co-host of “CBS Mornings” and a close friend of Oprah Winfrey, said Wednesday night. “She’s always tried to stay out of the political fray, and I think now she feels like she feels like there’s a lot at stake and she just wants to – she has some things to say tonight.”
