We will admit to still sometimes shaking our head at the realization that Donald Trump is the president of the United States, though apparently not just his ardent fans but liberal America, too, is now ready to embrace the idea that billionaire TV stars are a good recruiting pool for the Oval Office. After host Seth Meyers joked about Oprah Winfrey running for president and she gave a fiery speech at the Golden Globes, the speculation in the political press was instantaneous and effusive.
NBC’s official Twitter account published a picture of Winfrey, saying, “Nothing but respect for OUR future president.” NBC later retracted the tweet, blaming it on a third party. (Which raises the question why a major TV network needs to outsource its Twittering.)
Anyway, we understand why Oprah’s name is being bandied about. She’s certainly beloved, though how long she’d remain so in a political campaign is open to question. And she can certainly deliver a speech, though we were a little troubled by everyone’s favorite line from her Golden Globes remarks: “What I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have.” This admonition to speak “your truth” is being received as some sort of pointed challenge to Trump. But isn’t one of the lessons of the last few years that everyone insisting on their version of the truth is a recipe for political dysfunction?
The Scrapbook is so old we remember a time when a politician’s explicitly invoking the notion that truth is subjective marked the end rather than the beginning of his career. In 2004, New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey resigned, saying, “My truth is that I am a gay American.” Well, this declaration was a polite way of glossing over the real truth: that McGreevey had cheated on his wife with a man he had corruptly put on the state payroll, thus necessitating a hasty exit from the governor’s mansion.
Of course, TV fame, a substantial fortune, and a sketchy relationship with the truth aren’t the only things Oprah has in common with Trump. For decades, she’s been America’s premier peddler of snake-oil—promoting everything from anti-vaccination pseudoscience to new age religions repackaging the false prosperity gospel. (Remember when she promoted The Secret? Just “ask, believe, and receive” and all your dreams come true!) When you think about it, Oprah makes scams such as Trump University look insufficiently ambitious.
And what of their shared narcissism? Remember how everyone guffawed that Trump had a fake Time magazine with him Photoshopped on the cover at one of his golf clubs? He’s got nothing on Oprah, who started her own magazine and has been on the cover of every issue for its 17 years of existence.
All of which is to say, the similarities are discomfiting enough that if she runs for president, don’t count her out.
