Oprah: No, I Didn't Ask Romney to Run for White House With Me

UPDATE Oct 19, 2023 12:20 PM CDT

Oprah Winfrey is disputing a new book's assertion that she once called Mitt Romney to suggest they run for the White House on the same ticket. Yes, the spokesperson says, Winfrey did indeed call the Utah Republican in the run-up to the 2020 election, but not to float a joint run. "In November 2019, Ms. Winfrey called Senator Romney to encourage him to run on an Independent ticket," says the spokesperson, per the Hollywood Reporter. "She was not calling to be part of the ticket and was never considering running herself."

Oct 16, 2023 8:59 AM CDT

Back in 2018, Oprah Winfrey pooh-poohed speculation that she might make a run for the White House, saying a presidential campaign "would kill me." A new biography about Sen. Mitt Romney due out Tuesday, however, adds some interesting context to that, with a somewhat surprising nugget about Winfrey and the Utah Republican. A source tells Axios' Mike Allen that in McKay Coppins' Romney: A Reckoning, Romney tells Coppins that the Democratic talk show host approached him to run on a 2020 ticket with her to "save the country" from the possible reelection of former President Trump.

Romney is said to have told Coppins that he blew off the proposal, as he felt such a run would only help Trump in the long run. Meanwhile, a source said to be "familiar with Winfrey's thinking" says that Oprah—who interviewed Romney and his wife in 2012, when he was running for president against then-President Obama—wasn't actually serious about a run, even though some in her circle thought she really would go for it. (More Oprah Winfrey stories.)