Oprah Winfrey’s return to television this fall is being heralded as an opportunity to heal the political division raging throughout the U.S.
“What we’re setting out to do is conquer the divide in America, try to understand it better, try to shed some light on where these differences lie,” said Jeffrey Fager, executive producer of “60 Minutes,” told Vogue in an interview. “I think a lot of people now realize that this was one of the great missed stories of our generation — that there is so much bitterness in America today — and we really see it as something that Oprah can help us better understand, and by doing that hopefully narrow that divide and start us talking again.”
Winfrey is set to join “60 Minutes” as a special contributor, and Winfrey told Vogue that the election of President Trump is part of the reason why she’s returning. She also hinted at how she will try to bring both political sides together.
Winfrey held a focus group of female Trump and Clinton voters two weeks after the real estate mogul won the presidency, she told Vogue.
“One said, ‘I’ve never been this close to a Trump supporter,'” Winfrey recalled. “I go: ‘Not that you know of, maybe.'”
Winfrey said she was able to get the women to “actually hear and feel for each other” by making sure they listened to one another’s stories.
“By the end of that two-and-a-half hours, I could have gotten them to sing ‘Kumbaya’ for real if I wanted to,” Winfrey said. “It’s me being out in the center of the country doing that thing where you’re putting two sides together, and I am really looking forward to it.”
