Could President Oprah become a reality? New polling from CNN shows that she would defeat Trump 51 percent to 42 percent in a head-to-head matchup in 2020.
But that doesn’t make her the strongest potential rival: Former Vice President Joe Biden would beat Trump by 57 percent to 40 percent, and Sen. Bernie Sanders would defeat Trump 55 percent to 42 percent, the poll found.
The poll was commissioned by CNN and performed by the research firm SSRS between January 14-18.
But as pundits love to remind us, the only count that truly matters is the one on Election Day. Trump consistently outperformed his poll numbers during the 2016 campaign. In the final months, he trailed Hillary Clinton, but ultimately won the election.
Trump has said he would be totally unbothered by an Oprah challenge if it came — and that he would win.
“Yeah, I’ll beat Oprah. Oprah would be a lot of fun. I know her very well,” he said during a cabinet meeting earlier this month. “I like Oprah.”
The actress and television star renewed speculation that she would get into the race when she delivered a widely praised speech at the Golden Globe awards earlier this month. Her longtime partner Stedman Graham told the Los Angeles Times that she “would absolutely do it.”