Will Weinstein Scandal Taint Oprah’s 2020 Ambitions?

Oprah Winfrey personifies the Hollywood success story.  Her popularity is so great that, since President Trump’s election, Hollywood and the media have been floating Oprah as a Democrat candidate to run for president in 2020.

In March, Politico made “The Serious Case for Oprah 2020” suggesting Oprah is “the celebrity kryptonite” Democrats need to beat Donald Trump in 2020 noting:

Winfrey…survived poverty, childhood sexual abuse and workplace sexual harassment to become the world’s first black female billionaire.

Michael Moore suggested Winfrey as a “beloved American” suitable to oppose Trump.

Despite reports that Oprah would not consider running, on September 27, John Podhoretz called Oprah the Democrats’ Best Hope for 2020:

If any figure in the United States bears watching over the next couple of years as our political culture continues the radical transformation that led to the election of Donald Trump, it’s Oprah. I believe she’s uniquely positioned, should she wish to commit herself, to seek the Democratic nomination for president and challenge Trump in 2020.

Days later several media sources teased Oprah’s possible 2020 run.

That was before the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal broke.

During the 19th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards in 2014, Winfrey sat with fellow Hollywood power-broker Weinstein and appeared to suckle his earlobe.

As a survivor of “childhood sexual abuse and workplace sexual harassment” herself and prominent member of the Hollywood elite, it is inconceivable that Oprah would not have known of Harvey Weinstein’s decades long reputation as a sexual predator.  Why would such a powerful, successful woman sit next to such a predator, much less embrace him intimately?

Plucking up enough courage after years of success in the industry, Hollywood’s female leads are suddenly falling over themselves to “speak out” about the casting couch culture.

Curiously, though, Oprah has yet to publicly condemn Weinstein’s behavior or speak to what radio talk show host Mark Levin calls Hollywood’s Conspiracy of Silence enabling the sexual predation of women.