It all got brought back up again, at first, because of a joke. 
 
 Golden Globes host Seth Meyers stood before Oprah Winfrey, who was set to receive the Cecil B. DeMille award Sunday night and was sitting in the very front of the room. As Meyers opened the awards show, he mentioned his 2011 White House correspondents’ dinner gig, the one where he joked about Donald Trump not being qualified for president. 
 
 “Some have said that night convinced him to run. So, if that’s true, I just want to say: Oprah, you will never be president! You do not have what it takes. And Hanks! Where’s Hanks? You will never be vice president. You are too mean and unrelatable. Now we just wait and see.” 
 
 Winfrey burst into laughter. But an hour later, she took the stage to deliver an incredibly rousing speech that was both personal and a universal call to action. “I want all the girls watching here and now to know that a new day is on the horizon,” she said to thunderous applause. 
 
 She brought the crowd at the Beverly Hilton to its feet. On social media, chatter built about her presidential prospects. 
 
 [‘A new day is on the horizon’: Read Oprah Winfrey’s stirring Golden Globes speech] 
 
 Since Sunday, Winfrey hasn’t made any public statement about her intentions. But the chatter has Democratic circles buzzing. CNN, citing two anonymous individuals, said Winfrey’s confidants have been urging her for months to run for office. Brad Anderson, the Iowa state director for President Barack Obama’s reelection, tweeted, “Call me Oprah. I’ve got some Iowa county chairs who would love to hear from you.” 
 
 President Trump even weighed in when on Tuesday when a reporter asked him whether he could beat Winfrey. “Yeah, I’d beat Oprah,” Trump said before quickly switching gears. “Oprah would be a lot of fun. I know her very well… I like Oprah. I don’t think she’s gonna run.” 
 
 [‘I’d beat Oprah,’ Trump says. But he doesn’t think she’ll run.] 
 
 “I’m thinking she is not going to be running for president,” Winfrey’s best friend, Gayle King, said Tuesday on CBS This Morning. “I do think she is very intrigued, and I also say, as I’ve heard for many years on the ‘Oprah Winfrey Show,’ you always have the right to change your mind. But that is certainly not something she’s considering right now.” 
 
 King added: “I, on the other hand, think, wow. Wow. A lot of people were thinking wow. So we’ll see… I’m very intrigued.” 
 
 “Winfrey is overwhelmed by the groundswell of support, the absolute avalanche of hashtags and phone calls about running for president,” Richard Sher, a friend and former broadcasting partner in Baltimore who spoke with Winfrey by phone Monday, told The Post’s Robert Costa. “If she set out to do it, she’d win. But at this point it’s other people, not her, that’s talking about it. She’s just taking it all in and happy that what she had to say struck such a chord around the country.” 
 
 After delivering the inspirational speech, Winfrey’s longtime partner, Stedman Graham, told the Los Angeles Times that “it’s up to the people. She would absolutely do it.” 
 
 Decades before President Trump ran for office, he joked that Oprah would be his "first choice" for vice president. (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post) 
 
 And when the Los Angeles Times told Winfrey what at the Golden Globes that “the Internet is saying Oprah for president in 2020,” Winfrey responded. “I’m just glad I got through the speech! I thought a lot about it. I wanted this to be a meaningful moment.” 
 
 But would she consider a 2020 presidential run? “Okaay!” she reportedly responded with a smile. 
 
 [Oprah could run. Oprah could win. Is America going insane or coming to its senses?] 
 
 In the past, Winfrey has definitely shut down the suggestion. She told the Hollywood Reporter in June, “I will never run for public office. That’s a pretty definitive thing.” 
 
 There have also been several moments where Winfrey has teased at the possibility. In September, she tweeted out a New York Post column with the headline, “Democrats’ best hope for 2020: Oprah.” 
 
 Tagging the author, she wrote, “Thanks for your VOTE of confidence!” 
 
 @jpodhoretz Thanks for your VOTE of confidence!Democrats’ best hope for 2020: Oprah | New York Post https://t.co/tvt82v8cMH — Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) September 28, 2017 
 
 In a March interview, Bloomberg TV’s David Rubenstein asked Winfrey about her 2020 plans. As The Post’s Helena Andrews-Dyer reported: 
 
 Have you ever thought that, given the popularity you have — we haven’t broken the glass ceiling yet for women — that you could actually run for president and actually be elected?” asked Rubenstein. The live audience, predictably, went a little nuts at the mere mention of Winfrey’s name in connection (even hypothetically) to the White House. For her part, Winfrey, who has been in the TV business for nearly 40 years, paused for dramatic effect. “I never considered the question even a possibility,” she said, before adding, “I just thought, ‘Oh … oh?’” Without mentioning President Trump’s name, Rubenstein then pointed out that “it’s clear you don’t need government experience to be elected president of the United States.” “That’s what I thought,” Winfrey said. “I thought, ‘Oh gee, I don’t have the experience, I don’t know enough.’ And now I’m thinking, ‘Oh.’ ” 
 
 King, Winfrey’s best friend, tried to clear things up the next day. “It was clearly a joke,” King said on CBS. “I also heard on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ over the years you always have the right to change your mind, but I would bet my first, second born and any unborn children to come, that ain’t never happening.” 
 
 [Talk of Oprah running for president captivates Democrats] 
 
 Honestly, the tweets, the comments — they all could have been fun little jokes. But it’s no longer all that far-fetched to think that someone known primarily for their work on TV and with absolutely no governing experience could not only run for president but also win. Connecting an uber-popular name like “Oprah” with “presidential campaign” is naturally going to generate loads of excitement. (Also, let’s not forget the speculation about “The Rock 2020.”) 
 
 Then there’s her popularity. A March 2017 Quinnipiac University poll found Winfrey had a 52 percent favorable rating (and just a 23 percent unfavorable rating). She was most popular with Democrats (72 percent) and independents (51 percent). But that doesn’t mean those polled wanted her to throw her hat into the ring: Just over 1 in 5 said Winfrey should run in 2020, and 69 percent said she shouldn’t. 
 
 [Meryl Streep just endorsed an Oprah Winfrey presidential run] 
 
 For most of her time as a daytime talk show host, Winfrey avoided bringing politicians on for interviews. 
 
 “I didn’t want to delve into the world of politics because I felt I lost control,” she said on the “Making Oprah” podcast. “I can’t get them to actually respond because a skilled politician knows how to give the answer they want.” She ended up breaking with that stance in 2000, when she gave equal time to both major party candidates: Al Gore and George W. Bush. (Bush’s approval ratings jumped that week.) 
 
 Then, in 2004, she heard Obama speak at the Democratic National Convention. Thoroughly impressed, she brought the senator onto her show in 2006. When he ran for president in 2008, she publicly endorsed him. Winfrey — who commanded a viewership of tens of millions of loyal women — for the first time publicly put her formidable stamp of approval on a candidate. 
 
 “It came from such a pure instinctive place,” she said on the podcast. “I didn’t even think about it in terms of business or viewership.” 
 
 Since then, Winfrey endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016. 
 
 But would she challenge Trump? He had glowing things to say about her political prospects back in 1999. When asked whether he’d ever consider a female running mate, Trump responded: “Well, I would consider, and as Chris [Matthews] can tell you, I threw out the name of a friend of mine, who I think the world of. She’s great. And some people thought it was an incredible idea, some people didn’t, but — Oprah. I said, ‘Oprah Winfrey,’ who’s really great. And I think we would be a very formidable team.” 
 
 Oprah will end up doing just fine with her network–she knows how to win. @Oprah — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 5, 2012 
 
 Then there’s the time Winfrey interviewed Trump about his presidential hopes — in 1988. 
 
 “I just probably wouldn’t do it, Oprah, but I do get tired of seeing what’s happening with this country,” he said. “And if it got so bad, I would never want to rule it out totally.” 
 
 We all see how that turned out. 
 
 Scott Clement contributed to this post, which has been updated. 
 
 Read more: 
 
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 Golden Globes: Our complete coverage 
 
 Golden Globes: Seth Meyers roasts Trump, Weinstein and more (with an assist from Amy Poehler) ||||| President Trump said Tuesday he doesn't think Oprah Winfrey will run in 2020, but if she did, he'd beat her. 
 
 Mr. Trump, taking reporters' questions during a meeting with lawmakers on immigration, addressed speculation that Oprah could run for president in 2020 after her lauded speech at the Golden Globes Sunday. 
 
 "Can you beat Oprah?" a reporter asked. 
 
 "I'd beat Oprah," the president said. "Oprah would be a lot of fun. I know her very well. ... I like Oprah. I don't think she's going to run. I don't think she's going to run." 
 
 The president also noted he has appeared on her show. 
 
 Mr. Trump has praised Oprah on Twitter in the past. 
 
 By the way, where is @Oprah? Good question. 4 years ago she strongly supported Obama--now she is silent. Anyway, who cares, I adore Oprah. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 26, 2012 
 
 Going back even further, when Mr. Trump first considered running for president in 2000, he mentioned that Winfrey would be an ideal running mate. 
 
 CBS News' Jillian Hughes contributed to this report. ||||| President Trump tweeted criticism of a "60 Minutes" panel discussion moderated by Oprah Winfrey that was broadcast Sunday night, slamming her questions to the politically divided group and expressing the hope that she runs against him in 2020. 
 
 After 11 p.m. ET Sunday, the president took to Twitter: 
 
 Just watched a very insecure Oprah Winfrey, who at one point I knew very well, interview a panel of people on 60 Minutes. The questions were biased and slanted, the facts incorrect. Hope Oprah runs so she can be exposed and defeated just like all of the others! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2018 
 
 Winfrey was revisiting a panel of pro- and anti-Trump voters in Grand Rapids, Michigan she spoke with last fall. 
 
 She asked them about the president's tax plan, passed at the end of the year, and about his reported reference to "sh*thole countries." 
 
 "Who here believes that he made the comment about, quote, 'sh*thole countries?"' she asked the group. 
 
 And after pointing out that "polls are showing that respect for the United States is eroding around the world," Winfrey asked, "Do you care what the world thinks of the United States?" 
 
 She also inquired about whether panel members think Mr. Trump is fit for office. 
 
 "There have been some members of Congress, including Republicans, questioning his stability and fitness for office. What do you think of that, and do you believe he has the temperament to be president?" 
 
 Talk about Winfrey as a presidential candidate was recently reignited by her acceptance speech at the Golden Globe awards in January for the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement. She is the first black woman to receive the honor. 
 
 Winfrey delivered a forceful speech about sexual harassment and the #MeToo movement, prompting three ovations from the crowd. By the time her address ended, viewers and the press were speculating about whether this was the beginning of a 2020 presidential bid. 
 
 But she told "60 Minutes" last week, "I am actually humbled by the fact that people think that I could be a leader of the free world, but it's just not in my spirit," adding, "It's not in my DNA." 
 
 After Winfrey's Globes speech, the president said he doesn't think she'll run in 2020, but he'd win if she did. 
 
 "Can you beat Oprah?" a reporter asked. 
 
 "I'd beat Oprah," the president said. "Oprah would be a lot of fun. I know her very well. ... I like Oprah. I don't think she's going to run. I don't think she's going to run." 
 
 The president also noted he has appeared on her show. 
 
 Mr. Trump has praised Oprah on Twitter in the past. 
 
 By the way, where is @Oprah? Good question. 4 years ago she strongly supported Obama--now she is silent. Anyway, who cares, I adore Oprah. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 26, 2012 
 
 And when he first considered running for president in 2000, he mentioned that Winfrey would be an ideal running mate.
– Everybody's talking about the possibility of Oprah running for president, but the man currently in office doesn't think it will happen. "I don't think she's going to run," President Trump told reporters Tuesday, per CBS News. If she did, however, Trump said he'd win. "I'd beat Oprah," he said, before adding that he liked her and once appeared on her show with his family. "It was very nice." Trump does indeed apparently like Oprah, as CNN recounts. He told Larry King back in 1999 that she'd be the ideal running mate were he ever to run for president. "She's popular, she's brilliant, she's a wonderful woman," he said. "It would be a pretty good ticket." More recently, in 2012, he tweeted that "I adore Oprah." (Plenty of columnists have weighed in on why she shouldn't run.)