Oprah Winfrey was a surprise guest on Wednesday on the third night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, delivering a stirring speech that highlighted the differences between Kamala Harris and her GOP counterpart.
Winfrey, who has kept a low profile in politics so far this election cycle, urged viewers at home and Democrats at the United Center in Chicago to keep faith in “the best of America” to help the country endure during this period of bitter partisanship.
Like other speakers, Winfrey sounded the alarm about the agenda shaped by former President Donald Trump and other far-right forces. “People who want you to believe that books are dangerous, that assault rifles are safe, that there’s a right way to worship and a wrong way to love,” she said.
Winfrey did not mention Trump by name, but there was no doubt about her goal. “Beware of politicians who seek first to divide and then to conquer,” she said. “When we stand together, we are unconquerable.”
Full coverage: Democratic National Convention – 2024 Elections
Winfrey cited the life story of Tessie Prevost, an activist who helped integrate schools in New Orleans when she was six years old in the 1950s, in the face of sniper threats. Citing the work of predecessors like Prevost, who died last month at the age of 69, Winfrey called on Americans to strive for greater unity.
“America is an ongoing project that requires commitment and openness to the hard work and hard work of democracy,” she said. “And from time to time it requires standing up to the tyrants of life.”
Winfrey also referred to the uproar over Vice President J.D. Vance, who has faced criticism for past comments about “cat ladies with no kids” running politics. She noted that neighbors don’t ask each other about their political affiliations when volunteers show up to help put out a house fire, and pointedly replied, “And if the place belongs to a cat lady with no kids — well, we try to get that cat out, too.”
Winfrey has declared herself an independent and criticized Trump's recent comment to evangelical voters that they should just vote for him again and they won't have to vote again.
“You’re looking at a registered independent who is proud to vote over and over again because I’m a proud American and that’s what Americans do,” she said. “Values and character are what matter in leadership and in life. Decency and respect are on the ballot in 2024.”
Winfrey echoed other speakers in questioning how much Republicans have consumed their party with Trump and his “Make America Great Again” movement.
“We are Americans. Let us choose loyalty to the Constitution over loyalty to any individual. Let us choose inclusion over revenge. Let us choose common sense over nonsense. Because that is the best thing about America.”
Winfrey cited another theme that has been mentioned often from the stage this week: “We will not be taken back, kicked back, bullied — we will not go back,” she said.
Winfrey enthused the audience from her opening remark: “Who says you can’t go home again?” referring to her long tenure in Chicago in the 1980s and into the 2000s when she hosted her daily talk show, “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”
