NBC receives blowback following Oprah tweet

NBC is facing backlash on social media for a tweet calling Oprah Winfrey the future president.

In response to a Seth Meyers joke at the Golden Globes, the network tweeted “Nothing but respect for OUR future president” to its 1.77 million followers along with a photo of Oprah from the Hollywood event Sunday night.

Nothing but respect for OUR future president. #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/h4hkjewu0K

— NBC (@nbc) January 8, 2018

The tweet seems to reference a well-known meme that went viral in 2017, when people posted various situations along with the caption “Nothing but respect for MY president.”

The network said on Monday morning that the tweet was sent by a “third party agency” for its entertainment division and had been “removed.”

{mosads}

There is speculation that the 63-year-old is considering running for president in 2020 against President Trump. The television host, producer and philanthropist has denied she will seek the office, but a fiery speech during the Golden Globes has refueled speculation.

The tweet from the network came after Golden Globes host Seth Meyers said in his opening monologue that his ribbing of Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in 2011 may have been what compelled the real estate mogul to run for president.

“In 2011, I told some jokes about our current president at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Jokes about how he was unqualified to be president. Some have said that night convinced him to run,” Meyers said before delivering the joke’s punchline.

“So if that’s true, I just want to say: Oprah, you will never be president! You do not have what it takes!”

Following the joke and NBC’s tweet, the network quickly faced blowback on social media, with some joking she would be the network’s next president.

When NBC tweeted Oprah pic with ‘Nothing but respect for OUR future president,’ did it mean she should be president of NBC? Of the United States? Of something else? All-caps OUR kind of confusing… https://t.co/Q3TDMAmKRz pic.twitter.com/2uKUBKnQ5O

— Byron York (@ByronYork) January 8, 2018

Oh look, NBC has declared #Oprah our future president…
Everyone fall in line with your media overlords. #GoldenGlobes #GoldenGlobes2018 pic.twitter.com/0CoiRtV3da

— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) January 8, 2018

Oprah is taking over NBC? https://t.co/09cqLzDlmq

— Eli Lake (@EliLake) January 8, 2018

So, it looks like the @Oprah Winfrey Network @owntv
and @nbc
have merged… https://t.co/BMjgWFo3B3

— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) January 8, 2018

I hear #Oprah gave what amounted to a campaign speech tonight.  Will this be her campaign poster? pic.twitter.com/cQ17nMGnsh

— Joe Pags Pagliarulo (@JoeTalkShow) January 8, 2018

I have watched every episode of the Oprah show in history, I credit her with saving my life, there is no bigger fan…so I feel I have some moral authority when I say that this is a strange tweet for a broadcast network. https://t.co/bH0pczGPtY

— Yashar Ali  (@yashar) January 8, 2018

OPRAH 2020? NBC and Hollywood elites push ‘Oprah Winfrey for President’ after her Golden Globes speech pic.twitter.com/lctpqj2pu9

— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) January 8, 2018 

This tweet puts every reporter at NBC in a bad spot. Foolish thing for them to do. But at least now they are open about their bias. https://t.co/tIQtBodRkS

— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) January 8, 2018

Oprah was being honored for the annual Cecil B. DeMille Award, marking the first time a black woman has received the honor since it was first awarded in 1952.

“It is not lost on me that at this moment, there are some little girls watching as I become the first black woman to be given the same award. It is an honor and it is a privilege to share the evening with all of them,” Winfrey said to applause. 

–This report was updated at 10:39 a.m.