Oprah Winfrey for president? 'Now I'm thinking'

Winfrey says her lack of political experience may not disqualify her from the Oval Office

Oprah Winfrey is not ruling out a presidential run in the wake of Donald Trump's capture of the White House.

She told Bloomberg Television Mr Trump's election despite his political inexperience has made her rethink her own credentials for the Oval Office.

The 63-year-old US talk show doyenne, who supported Hillary Clinton, has previously brushed off questions about political ambitions.

But now she drops a tantalising hint of a potential future candidacy.

"I never considered the question even a possibility," she told financier David Rubenstein on his Bloomberg Television programme when asked whether she might consider a run.

"I just thought, 'Oh… oh?'"

Referring to Mr Trump, Mr Rubenstein 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," she continued. "I thought, 'Oh, gee, I don't have the experience, I don't know enough.' And now I'm thinking, 'Oh.'"

Winfrey was an early supporter of former President Barack Obama in 2008, which some said gave him a boost in the primary election over his then-opponent Mrs Clinton.

Winfrey stumped for then-Senator Barack Obama during his presidential campaign in 2007

She also gave Mrs Clinton a tepid endorsement late in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Mr Trump, in fact, suggested Winfrey as his running mate when he considered running for president in 1999, and again last year said he "would love to have Oprah" on his ticket.

But Winfrey has long dismissed entering the political arena as a candidate.

She told Stephen Colbert on The Late Show in January that a presidential run was "not my thing" and echoed similar sentiments to Jimmy Kimmel last year.

The billionaire entertainer is hardly the only celebrity without government experience to be linked to a presidential run.

There has also been speculation that Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, rapper Kanye West and Disney chief executive Bob Iger could one day run for the nation's highest office.