Oprah Winfrey Distances Herself From Two Former Colleagues Who Became Trump Allies

Oprah: "If we don't show up tomorrow, it is entirely possible that we will not have the opportunity to ever cast a ballot again." pic.twitter.com/H67jaKhXes

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 5, 2024

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Talk show legend Oprah Winfrey distanced herself from Dr. Phil McGraw and Dr. Mehmet Oz, two stars she helped turn into national media personalities who have since become associated with conservative politics.

Winfrey spoke to Emmy Magazine about her career and was asked how she felt about McGraw and Oz now.

“People criticize me for Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz, because of their politics or their views,” she said, recalling that during a lengthy legal battle in the late ‘90s, “Dr. Phil, he was so practical, so down-to-earth, so real. And he would ride in the car with me every morning on the way to trial, where I’m literally sitting on trial for six weeks.”

McGraw and Oz have become political figures in recent years. Oz, endorsed by President Donald Trump, ran for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania in 2022 before being defeated by Sen. John Fetterman. While McGraw has not endorsed either party, he appeared at Trump’s Madison Square Garden campaign rally in October 2024, and accompanied ICE personnel during Chicago immigration raids alongside Trump border czar Tom Homan.

Oz was nominated by Trump and approved by the Senate to become Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in 2025 as the president returned to office.

“I felt that he was so instrumental in helping me. I thought, ‘Oh, you could help a lot of people. You should come on my show,’” she added.

For Dr. Oz, she recalled, “He explained practical things like colon cancer and bowel movements. I thought he had the language for explaining medical things in a way that was helpful to me. I thought it would be helpful to many other people. And that is how they ended up on the show.”

“Everybody has their own path in life, and it has not one thing to do with me, and I don’t have one thing to do with them,” she concluded. “At the time, the reason and intention behind me giving them their breaks was I thought they had valuable information to share that had been meaningful to me.”

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Oprah spun off Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, and gave oxygen to Suzanne Somers' and Jenny McCarthy's toxic messages.

Her impact on the public discourse around medical advice was pretty uniformly terrible.

I am not a fan. pic.twitter.com/LkZQTahx41

— c0nc0rdance (@c0nc0rdance) May 7, 2022

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I know everyone loves Oprah but she gave us all Dr Phil and Dr Oz. Just saying

— Joe Lockhart (@joelockhart) December 6, 2021

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Woman appears to fall ill at Trump rally in Kentucky; Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Svcs. Admin Dr. Mehmet Oz appears to assist in medical care. pic.twitter.com/ppJqCAENcS

— CSPAN (@cspan) March 11, 2026

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“I do think that religious liberty is under attack in the United States, and I think that's why President Trump took the initiative to form the Presidential Commission on Religious Liberty.”

Dr. Phil McGraw commented on the Religious Liberty Commission’s report, emphasizing the… pic.twitter.com/pgS1MwDrS7

— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) June 27, 2026

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