Oprah Winfrey has revealed to Māori Television she will never run for US President because “expressing myself on the planet would not be through politics.”
“I never felt that I was qualified to run for office because I never knew enough about enough things.” She told the current affairs programme Native Affairs.
“I think the responsibility of trying to represent millions of people, is such a huge one, that it’s not something that I should not answer flippantly. What I have known for a very long time is that my way of expressing myself on the planet would not be through politics.”
The media icon was in New Zealand last year to shoot the Disney film A Wrinkle in Time, directed by Ava DuVernay and starring Reese Witherspoon.
Native Affairs was the only television network in New Zealand to be granted an interview.
Winfrey expressed her love for Māori filmmaker, Taika Waititi.
“I’m familiar with his work and how his work speaks to the heart of every human,” she says.
She also loves New Zealand.
“God shows off here. It not just takes your breath away, it is your breath to be taken away,” she says.
“The people of this land understand and know that they are who they are because of everyone that has come before them. You just can’t get any better than that.’