‘Decency and Respect Are on the Ballot’

Oprah Winfrey was a surprise guest Wednesday on Night 3 of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, delivering a rousing 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, called on viewers at home and the Democrats at the United Center in Chicago to keep faith in “the best of America” to help the country endure through this period of bitter partisanship.

Like other speakers, Winfrey sounded the alarm on the agenda articulated by former President Donald Trump and other far-right forces. “People who would have you believe that books are dangerous and assault rifles are safe,” she said. “That there’s a right way to worship and a wrong way to love.”

Winfrey didn’t cite Trump by name but there was no doubt about her target. Beware of politicians “who seek to first to divide and then to conquer,” she said. “When we stand together it is impossible to conquer us.”

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Winfrey cited the life story of Tessie Prevost, an activist who helped integrate schools in New Orleans as a 6-year-old in the 1950s, against the threat of snipers. Citing the work of forebears such as Prevost, who died last month at age 69, Winfrey called on Americans to strive for greater unity.

“America is an onging project that requires commitment and being open to the hard work and the hard work of democracy,” she said. “Every now and then it requires standing up to life’s bullies.”

Winfrey also made mention of the flap stirred by Trump’s vice presidential running mate JD Vance, who has faced criticism for past comments about “childless cat ladies” driving politics. Noting that neighbors don’t ask one another about their political affiliation when volunteers show up to help fight a house fire, Winfrey delivered a pointed response. “And if the place just happens to belong to a childless cat lady –well, we try to get that cat out too.”

Winfrey declared herself to be an Independent and took aim at Trump’s recent quip to evangelical voters that they only need to vote for him once more and then they’ll never have to vote again.

“You’re looking at a registered Independent who is proud to vote again and again and again because I’m a proud America and that’s what Americans do,” she said. “Values and character matter most of all in leadership and in life. Decency and respect are on the ballot in 2024.”

Winfrey echoed other speakers in questioning the degree to which Republicans have seen their party consumed by Trump and his MAGA movement.

“We are Americans. Let us choose loyalty to the Constitution over loyalty to any individual. Let us choose inclusion over retaliation. Common sense over nonsense. Because that’s the best of America,” she said.

Winfrey cited another theme that has been often stated from the stage this week: “We won’t be sent back, kicked back, bullied back — we’re not going back,” she said.

Winfrey had the crowd roaring from her opening comment: “Who says you can’t go home again?,” referring to her long tenure in Chicago in the 1980s through the 2000s when she hosted her daily syndicated talk show “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”