Trump Once Called Oprah Winfrey 'Very Insecure' for Asking 'Biased' Questions: "She Can Be..."

Oprah Winfrey and former president Donald Trump were close friends before Winfrey's 2017 investigation of fourteen Grand Rapids, Michigan voters in her first 60 Minutes special correspondent feature, Divided, altered everything. According to EW, she addressed a panel of seven voters in favor of Trump and seven against as part of the show's 50th season debut. However, the Republican leader believed the opinions expressed in the program were skewed.

He branded Winfrey "insecure" and added that he thought she should run for president to be "exposed and defeated". "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!", he wrote on X. 

As per EW, the panelists included a sales manager, a drug counselor, a speech therapist, a farmer, and a former GM factory worker, they discussed a range of hot-button issues, including Trump's presidency, his handling of the Russia probe, his tweeting, and the debate over health care. “I want to know from everyone around the table,” Winfrey inquired at one point during the show, “how do you think Donald Trump is doing as president of the United States today?”

“I love it,” one panelist said. “Every day I love him more and more. Every single day. I still don’t like his attacks, his Twitter attacks, if you will, on other politicians. But, at the same time, his actions speak louder than words. And I love what he’s doing to this country. Love it.”“I feel like he’s a horrible president,” an opposing panelist expressed. “And he’s divided our nation more than it has ever been. And then when he’s on teleprompter, he’s sane, I mean, I’m like, ‘That’s great. That’s great. That’s a good message.’

"But when he’s off a teleprompter I feel uncomfortable. It makes me feel sick to my stomach. And I think that we look like we’re a joke to other foreign leaders. It’s an embarrassment.” They were also asked to provide a one-word description of the typical Trump voter.

A voter said, "Frustrated." Someone else said, "Angry." Other comments were "wounded," "fed up," and "misinformed." The episode ended with statements of cautious optimism for the future mixed with dejection. “Unfortunately, as wonderful as this has been, I think that we’re going to be just as divided,” one panelist said. “I’m even fearing civil war.”

EW reported that the media magnate dismissed Trump's 'hateful' remark while attending an Ellen DeGeneres Show episode. “I don’t like giving negativity power,” she said. "What I actually really did was I went back and looked at the tape to see if there was any place that could be true. Did I feel like it was slanted or biased?" she told DeGeneres as per EW.

"I went back and I 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 then they give you the critique. They critique every word." 

"They'd only used the Democratic side," Winfrey added. "I remember the guy, Matt, had said, ‘No, we're the only people that are worried about what other countries are thinking of us.' So I said, ‘I think you should go back and put that in 'cause it makes it more balanced.' So I was working very hard to do the opposite of what I was hate-tweeted about. So it's okay."