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Janet Ybarra Democrat Former Washington Journalist Contributor on The Bipartisan Press

Have we become so Pavlovian that just because something begins to trend on social media, that that means it’s necessarily good or important?

The latest example of this is the hashtag “oprahmeetyang,” which encourages a meeting between Democratic presidential candidate and entrepreneur Andrew Yang and media maven and former talk show queen Oprah Winfrey.

Yang’s supporters are pushing for the meeting hard on Twitter.

#OprahMeetYang yes. I imagine a talk between you two would be great — K (@krizz3n) January 30, 2020

Okay, say Yang and Oprah have this supposedly collosal encounter. Then what?

Presumably, Oprah’s supposed to come out and endorse Yang? Here’s the thing, Oprah famously endorsed Barack Obama back in 2008. It was a case of an African American superstar, Oprah, pushing for the election of the nation’s first African American president.

Yes, Yang is Asian American. But Winfrey’s certainly not. So it would amount to just another celebrity endorsement.

Not to mention that since that historic election, Winfrey retired from daytime TV, and has given up her talk show which to use as her soapbox.

Or what? Offer her the slot as his running mate?

For one thing, Winfrey’s already signalled her disinterest in getting into presidential politics.

For another, Yang already himself is unelected and inexperienced in government. If he wants to be taken seriously, he would need a running mate more experienced in federal affairs, not a second newbie.

And you know who else expressed interest in Oprah Winfrey as a running mate? Donald Trump.

That’s right.

Trump talked up Oprah as a potential running mate when he flirted with running for president back in 1999.

If I were Andrew Yang, I would leave that one alone.

If Yang truly wants to become the Democratic nominee, he absolutely should be taking lots of meetings. But with folks who can do a lot more for his candidacy than Oprah Winfrey.

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