Ellen DeGeneres to Trump: You don’t ‘unite people’ by attacking Oprah
Ellen DeGeneres is defending Oprah Winfrey against President Trump’s tweeted attacks, saying he’ll never “unite people” by going after the former talk show host.
“President Trump, it’s time for an a-ha moment,” DeGeneres says in a preview clip from the Thursday episode of “Ellen,” in which Winfrey appears as a guest.
“You’re not just some guy on Twitter anymore — you’re the president for all of us. It is your job to unite people, and you don’t do it by attacking people, especially Oprah,” DeGeneres says during her opening monologue.
“I mean, George Washington may be the father of our country, but Oprah is the mother of our country,” DeGeneres adds to applause.
DeGeneres’s remarks came after Trump slammed Winfrey in a Sunday tweet, calling the OWN founder and CBS “60 Minutes” special contributor “very insecure.”
Just watched a very insecure Oprah Winfrey, who at one point I knew very well, interview a panel of people on 60 Minutes. The questions were biased and slanted, the facts incorrect. Hope Oprah runs so she can be exposed and defeated just like all of the others!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2018
Trump’s tweet came hours after a “60 Minutes” piece featuring Winfrey interviewing a group of Michigan voters about America’s political divide.
Winfrey publicly responds to Trump’s tweet for the first time during her appearance on “Ellen.”
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“I woke up and I just thought,” Winfrey exclaimed as she threw her hands up in the air with a puzzled expression.
“I don’t like giving negativity power so I just thought, what?” Winfrey added.
“I was working very hard to do the opposite of what I was hate-tweeted about,” she said.
The 64-year-old media mogul and “A Wrinkle in Time” star has has been floated as a possible 2020 White House contender after she delivered a rousing speech against sexual misconduct at last month’s Golden Globes, but she has denied any interest in a political bid.
DeGeneres, who’s criticized the president before, exclaims in her monologue that Trump had “gone too far” with the Winfrey criticism.
“Oprah is my friend, and when you mess with Oprah,” she says, “you mess with me.”
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