Ellen DeGeneres welcomed Oprah Winfrey on her show to discuss how President Trump mocked her on Twitter for asking voters about his mental fitness and potential sexual abuse on 60 Minutes. But first, Ellen had to play her usual game about how she's all about unity and Trump's "job" as president is to bring the unity to America.
Trump tweeted "Just watched a very insecure Oprah Winfrey, who at one point I knew very well, interview a panel of people on 60 Minutes. The questions were biased and slanted, the facts incorrect. Hope Oprah runs so she can be exposed and defeated just like all of the others!"
Ellen read that and replied, “Oh no you didn’t. No, no, no, he’s gone too far. Oprah is my friend. And when you mess with Oprah, you mess with me.”
She mocked Trump by comparing how Oprah "doesn't seem like she's insecure" when she was giving her Golden Globes lecture. Then she compared that to video of Trump defending the size of his hands (and his penis) at a presidential debate in 2016. “You know, everyone knows that when you talk about how big your hands are, it means you’re very secure,” DeGeneres said.
Then the afternoon-talk star aired video of Oprah handing out free cars to everyone on her show once, and compared that to Trump throwing rolls of paper towels to hurricane victims in Puerto Rico. The Democratic-donor comedian brought her usual leftist tilt to the "humor."
She concluded: "You’re not just some guy on Twitter anymore, you’re the president for all of us. It is your job to unite people and you don’t do it by attacking people, especially Oprah. I mean, George Washington may be the father of our country, but Oprah is the mother of our country."
Ellen asked Oprah about the allegation she asked slanted questions. They didn't discuss the question “There have been some members of Congress, including Republicans, questioning his stability and fitness for office. What do you think of that, and do you believe he has the temperament to be president?”
Or: "During the campaign, we are all aware that some 20 women accused him of inappropriate sexual behavior. There was the Access Hollywood tape, of course. What do you all think about that?" Or asking about the reported "s---thole countries" comment. Or asking about the tweet where the president said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand "would do anything" for campaign contributions.
Oprah insisted she was very scrupulous about balance. She talked about when she asked "polls are showing that respect for the United States is eroding around the world. Do you care what the world thinks of the United States?"
OPRAH WINFREY: I went back and looked at the tape, to see any place where that could be true....slanted or biased? I went back and looked at every tape. I called the producer, because what actually happened was, when you do 60 minutes, you sit in a room with at least seven other people who critique the piece, before you air it, before you do the introduction to it. And they give you the critique, so they critique every word, is this right? You have a whole panel of people looking at it, whether it was fair.
And I had actually, the first time I saw it, I said there’s something missing here, when I asked the question do you think, do you care about what other people think about America, and they only used the Democratic side, and I said, I remember the guy Matt had said no, we’re the only ones worried about what other people are thinking about us. So I said, I think you should go back and put that in, because it makes it more balanced. I was working very hard to do the opposite of what I was hate-tweeted about.
