Flashback: Oprah Winfrey once called Trump a ‘folk hero,’ a contrast to comments made during the DNC

In a 1988 interview with Oprah Winfrey, the celebrity talk show host appeared to be amazed at Americans’ ‘fascination’ with Donald Trump and even described him as a ‘folk hero’ for being so popular. 

‘Various celebrities in New York, because it was the opening concert in New York, and there were all kinds of celebrities – very, very famous people coming in to be seated. When you were seated, you got the loudest applause. People stood up and roared and cheered when you walked in,’ Winfrey said during the interview. ‘Why is that? What is this fascination?’

‘I don’t know, maybe I should be a rockstar,’ Trump replied.

‘They thought you were going to moonwalk,’ Oprah quipped. 

After Trump pondered his popularity with Oprah, she also referred to him as a ‘folk hero.’

The unearthed interview came to light a day after Winfrey made a surprise appearance at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night, during which she railed against Trump, her former friend. 

‘We know all the old tricks and tropes that are designed to distract us from what actually matters,’ Winfrey told those gathered at Chicago’s United Center. ‘But we are beyond ridiculous tweets and lies and foolery. These are complicated times, people, and they require adult conversation. And I welcome those conversations because civilized debate is vital to democracy, and it is the best of America.’

Winfrey also took aim at comments Trump made last month, when he told supporters they ‘won’t have to vote anymore’ if they elect him because he will fix all their problems. 

‘Now, there’s a certain candidate that says if we just go to the polls this one time, that we’ll never have to do it again. Well, you know what? You’re looking at a registered Independent who’s proud to vote again and again and again because I’m an American. And that’s what Americans do. Voting is the best of America.’

Shortly after her speech, the Trump campaign posted a thank you letter that Winfrey wrote to Trump in 2000, suggesting he would be a good president and they would make a good team working together in politics.

‘I might have thought it back then,’ Winfrey said in a 2023 interview. ‘I might have thought it 23 years ago.’

Fox News Digital reached out to Winfrey for comment but did not receive an immediate response prior to publication.

‘This is typical. Many of the liberal celebrities attacking President Trump now used to love him,’ Karoline Leavitt, Trump campaign national press secretary, told Fox News Digital. ‘They only pretend to hate him now because he’s a Republican, and because they are phonies like Kamala Harris.’