‘I’ll beat Oprah’: Donald Trump says 2020 presidential race against Winfrey would be ‘a lot of fun’

Donald Trump has said he is confident he would beat Oprah Winfrey in a presidential election.

Asked if he could defeat the chat show host in a future vote, the president replied: ‘Yeah I’ll beat Oprah.’

He added: ‘Oprah would be a lot of fun. I know her very well. I did one of her last shows.

‘I like Oprah. I don’t think she’s going to run.’

There has been a huge clamour for Ms Winfrey to run as a Democrat candidate against Mr Trump for the White House in 2020 following her moving speech at the Golden Globes last weekend.

Accepting the Cecil B DeMille lifetime achievement award, the chat show host and mogul spoke about about female empowerment, racial discrimination and sexual abuse.

Although she has previously said she has no plans to run for president, sources close to her told CNN she is ‘actively considering’ a campaign in the wake of the Golden Globes.

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Her partner, Stedman Graham, told the Los Angeles Times: ‘It’s up to the people. She would absolutely do it.’

In her speech on Sunday, Ms Winfrey paid tribute to women who have spoken out about the sexual abuse they have suffered.

‘A new day is on the horizon,’ she said.

It’s not the first time Mr Trump has addressed the issue of an Oprah run to the White House.

In 1999, during an interview with chat show host Larry King, he said he would choose her as his running mate if he stood for president.

‘Oprah. I love Oprah. Oprah would always be my first choice,’ he said.

‘If she’d do it, she’d be fantastic. I mean, she’s popular, she’s brilliant, she’s a wonderful woman.’

And in 2015, just a week before he announced he was running for the Oval Office, Mr Trump said she would be his choice for vice-president.

‘I think Oprah would be great,’ he said. ‘I’d love to have Oprah. I think we’d win easily, actually.’

Mr Trump’s daughter and White House advisor, Ivanka Trump, was criticised for tweeting her praise for Oprah’s speech, given the allegations of sexual harassment against her father, all of which he has denied.

According to recent bestseller Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, written by Michael Wolff, Ms Trump has her own future designs on the presidency.