Oprah Winfrey tweeted the message right after elections, thinking that it would bring a message of positivity and hope to her followers, but instead she received backlash and criticism from her fans on Twitter. Oprah says that this is the second time that she faces problems with things that she tweets, so she states, "So Jesus, I hear you. You don't have to tell me again."
The Queen of Talk's tweet showed President-elect Trump having a meeting with President Obama after the November 8 elections. She captioned the photograph with "Everybody take a deep breath!" She also added the hashtag #HopeLives.
She explained the reason for her tweet, saying that she couldn't after the election and just expected tension, awkwardness, and strain. The sight of them seated together and read that President-elect Trump felt honored to be meeting Obama, calling him a good man while Obama played a gracious host comforted her about the future administration and decided to tweet about it.
Everybody take a deep breath! #HopeLives! pic.twitter.com/YqNJSUab3a
— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) November 10, 2016
Despite her good intention, not everyone reacted well to her tweet and criticized her. One fan commented that "you are too intelligent to believe that. With all due respect." Another called Oprah Winfrey a racist, saying that Winfrey should not normalize Trump because minority children were already being targeted.
@Oprah How can we?? Racist assaults on Day 1 In Trump's America by @Incilin. We cannot normalize him.https://t.co/bJCKdyj0xQ — Keo Nozari (@KeoNozari) November 10, 2016
@Oprah This proves that demeaning, degrading, abusing women is fine and #rapeculture is alive and well and accepted in this country.
— Jewels (@survivorvoice) November 10, 2016
In a Q&A with AvaDuVernay, Oprah acknowledged her mistake in asking for unity despite the division that the recent elections caused. Winfrey continued, "My mistake, and this is what I know to be true: You can never talk about everybody ... Even in your arguments with your husband and your children. Don't talk about what you should do, what you ought to do - you can only speak for yourself. So what I should have said was, 'I just took a breath."
In the same Q&A, she said that if given a chance to do it again, she would not write the hashtag #HopeLives anymore. Instead of that, she claimed that it would be more proper to write #CivilityLives because she sees that the transition of power seems more civil than what was expected.
