NBC Deletes Oprah 'President' Tweet Amid Backlash

NBC has deleted a tweet pertaining to Oprah Winfrey's rumored 2020 presidential run, which it says [...]

NBC has deleted a tweet pertaining to Oprah Winfrey's rumored 2020 presidential run, which it says was meant as a joke in reference to a Seth Meyers joke during the Golden Globes and not as a political statement.

"Yesterday a tweet about the Golden Globes and Oprah Winfrey was sent by a third party agency for NBC Entertainment in real time during the broadcast. It is in reference to a joke made during the monologue and not meant to be a political statement. We have since removed the tweet," the network wrote on Twitter on Monday.

In the tweet in question, NBC wrote, "Nothing but respect for OUR future president" to its 1.77 million followers along with a GIF of Winfrey from the Hollywood event Sunday night.

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 tweet caught flack almost immediately, with criticizers saying it showed apparent bias for Winfrey.

Donald Trump Jr. shared NBC's tweet early Monday morning, saying, "In case anyone had any doubts about where the media stands this should take care of it. The bias against @realDonaldTrump is now so obvious they have simply given up hiding it. Can you trust anything they say at this point?"

NBC deleted the tweet early Monday morning, around 7:30 a.m. PT, saying the post was sent out by a third party and not meant to be a political statement.

The tweet 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!" he added.

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