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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.
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Oprah Winfrey takes the stage on Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., August 21, 2024. (Mike Segar/Reuters)
“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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While Dr. Phil McGraw has declined to reveal who he voted for in 2024, he has become a prominent commentator associated with conservative politics.
The managing editor of Media Research Center’s NewsBusters, Curtis Houck, told Fox News Digital that Winfrey appears to have no qualms about engaging in politics herself.
“Oprah certainly doesn’t have a problem with being friends with progressives or anyone willing to take on Trump,” he said.
“Oprah wants us to feel bad for woke Prince Harry and Meghan or the woman in the Coldplay kiss cam. She herself is stuck on Woke 1,” Houck added, referring to the term Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used in an attempt to shrug off far-left identity politics as a thing of the past.
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Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks ahead of U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the 128th Air Refueling Wing Hangar on July 8, 2026, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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“Oprah and her friend/CBS ‘Journalist’ Gayle King can continue promoting whatever causes they want or pal around with the Obamas, but they shouldn’t be seen as non-partisan by any stretch. While I’m sure they’re incredibly grateful to her, Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz should be allowed to have their own opinions and not be framed as the exclusive partisans,” he concluded.
