Oprah Winfrey denied a report that she asked Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) to join her for a 2020 presidential run and had instead asked him to run for president with a third-party ticket.
The initial report from Monday was based on a source familiar with the manuscript of the book Romney: A Reckoning, in which Winfrey had suggested the Oprah/Romney ticket "to save the country." However, a spokesperson for Winfrey has since denied the claim, saying she was never planning to run for president herself.
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“In November 2019, Ms. Winfrey called Sen. Romney to encourage him to run on an independent ticket,” the spokesperson said. “She was not calling to be part of the ticket and was never considering running herself.”
The book states Romney dismissed the idea of running for president, as he thought doing so would unintentionally help former President Donald Trump win the 2020 election. Romney ran for president in the 2012 presidential election, losing to incumbent President Barack Obama.
Winfrey denied contemplating a run for president in the 2020 election. She was also recently considered as a candidate to fill the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein's seat before her death last month. Winfrey's spokesperson stated in May that she "is not considering the seat should it become vacant," with Feinstein's seat instead given to Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-CA).
Romney announced last month he would not seek a second term as senator, calling for a “new generation of leaders” to take his seat. The Republicans running for Romney's seat are Mayor Trent Staggs of Riverton, Utah, and state House Speaker Brad Wilson.
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Romney: A Reckoning is based on a multitude of interviews Romney has done and also features a look into his diary and journal entries. McKay Coppins, the book's author, said he interviewed Romney for two years for the book, during which he was told stories about the Senate that were both "extraordinary and damning."
For two years, I met with Mitt Romney in his DC townhome as he grappled with what his party—and his country—were becoming. The stories he told me from inside the Senate were extraordinary and damning.
— McKay Coppins (@mckaycoppins) September 13, 2023
ROMNEY: A RECKONING is out next month. First excerpt: https://t.co/khdW2iafq0
The book is scheduled to be released on Oct. 24.