Oprah At the Golden Globes: 'Time Is Up' For Abusive Men

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — Oprah Winfrey delivered a powerhouse acceptance speech Sunday night at the Golden Globes as she received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for her lifetime's achievements. You can watch the speech below.

In a rousing delivery, she reflected on the historical achievements and continuing struggles of black Americans and women, citing the examples of monumental figures that have inspired her, including of Rosa Parks and Sidney Poitier, the first black person to receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award.

She spoke of witnessing Poitier's receiving the award and what it meant to her.

"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 this same award," she said.

Winfrey also recalled the recent death of Recy Taylor, a black woman who was raped in 1944 while leaving Church. No one was ever prosecuted for the crime, but in 2011, the Alabama House of Representatives said the failure to bring her attackers to justice was "morally abhorrent and repugnant."

Turning to the flood of revelations of sexual misconduct and abuse that deluged Hollywood and the media in past months, she had a forceful message about those men who abuse women: "Their time is up."

Though she didn't mention any elected officials or parts of the government by name, her speech had clear political overtones. She spoke out, for example in defense of the press.

"We all know that the press is under siege these days," she said. "But we also know that it is the insatiable dedication to uncovering the absolute truth that keeps us from turning a blind eye to corruption and to injustice; to tyrants and victims; and secrets and lies. I want to say that I value the press more than ever before as we try to navigate these complicated times."

On Twitter, many quickly hailed the speech as "presidential," with many joking about the prospect of "Oprah 2020."

But some took the idea seriously. Harry Enten, a data journalist at FiveThirtyEight, noted that Winfrey has high approval ratings.

"Obviously stuff changes if Oprah ever ran... Campaigns are tough business... I'm just saying it's not the nuttiest thing I've ever heard," he tweeted.

Others were not as enthusiastic about the idea of a second president hailing from the world of business, TV, and Hollywood.

"Simply being in attendance at the Golden Globes should be a disqualification from running for the presidency," said Keith Whittington, a politics professor at Princeton University.

The idea of "Oprah 2020" may not be as far-fetched as it first sounds. After President Trump's election, she seemed to be considering the possibility of a potential bid for the Oval Office.

"I never considered the question even a possibility," she said on Bloomberg. "I thought, oh gee, I don't have the experience, I don't know enough. And now I'm thinking, oh. Oh."

In September 2017, she tweeted out seeming approval of a New York Post column arguing she's the Democrats' best hope in 2020.

Watch her full acceptance speech below.

Photo by Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal via Getty Images