NBC sees Oprah as 'our future president,' then retracts it

Should Oprah Winfrey be the next president?

Apparently NBC thinks so, or at least thought so, although it didn't specify president of what.

During its broadcast of the 75th Golden Globe Awards, the official Twitter page of the National Broadcasting Company posted an intriguing tweet showing a laughing image of Oprah Winfrey with the message: "Nothing but respect for OUR future president. #GoldenGlobes."

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But early Monday, NBC appeared to back off the endorsement, blaming the message on a "third party."

"Yesterday a tweet about the Golden Globes and Oprah Winfrey was sent by a third party agency for NBC Entertainment in real time during the broadcast," read the network's new tweet. "It is in reference to a joke made during the monologue and not meant to be a political statement. We have since removed the tweet."

Radio host Rush Limbaugh was quick to chime in, saying: "So, NBC is saying they don't have control over their Twitter feeds?"

Limbaugh concluded: "Somebody at NBC did it. The bottom line is, how do you ever trust NBC?"

Despite the fact that Winfrey has squashed speculation of a potential presidential bid in 2020, Seth Meyers, the host of the TV event, tried his best to coax her into running during his opening monologue by invoking his previous remarks about President Trump.

"In 2011, I told some jokes about our current president at the White House Correspondents Dinner, jokes about how he was unqualified to be president," Meyers said. "And some have said that night convinced him to run. And if that's true, I would just like to say Oprah you will never be president. You do not have what it takes. And, Tom Hanks, you will never be vice president. You are too mean and unrelatable."

"Now we just wait and see," Meyers said.

"It's up to the people," Winfrey's longtime partner, Stedman Graham, told the Los Angeles Times. "She would absolutely do it."

Steven Zeitchik of theWashington Post tweeted: "Asked Meryl Streep what she thought of Oprah's speech. Her answer: 'She launched a rocket tonight. I want her to run for president. I don't think she had any intention [of declaring]. But now she doesn't have a choice.'"

Meanwhile, reacting to the NBC tweet about Oprah being president, comments on Twitter included:

• "And then what? Dr. Phil for VP? Dr. Oz for surgeon general? No, thanks."

• "Congrats NBC. Stupidest post of 2018!"

• "Oprah would make a great president of NBC."

• "Fire whoever does your social media. This is an insane tweet for a network that has a news department [that] wants to be taken seriously. Beyond shameful."

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— Jim Martin (@jpmtennis) January 8, 2018