Oprah Winfrey invokes house fire, jabs J.D. Vance in powerful 'childless cat lady' DNC speech: 'Let us choose truth'

From Tom Cruise jumping on her talk show's couch to jabbing a couch-loving (just kidding!) VP candidate at the Democratic National Convention, Oprah Winfrey has once again taken hold of the pop culture conversation.

The 70-year-old media icon took the stage Wednesday night for a rousing speech at Chicago's United Center, where she endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president and spoke out against conservative ideologies — particularly those of Donald Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance, who landed in hot water earlier this year thanks to a resurfaced 2021 interview clip in which he took issue with "childless cat ladies" in America.

"We are not so different from our neighbors. When a house is on fire, we don't ask about the homeowner's race or religion. We don't wonder who their partner is or how they voted. No. We just try to do the best we can to save them," Winfrey told the audience. "And if the place happens to belong to a childless cat lady? We try to get that cat out, too."

Vance drew widespread ire from both the general public and Hollywood celebrities, including the cohosts of The View — who spoke out against Vance's comments on the talk show — as well as from Jennifer Aniston, who has rarely made political statements in the past.

During an appearance on Tucker Carlson’s former Fox News show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, in 2021, Vance said that the United States is operated by "a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made," later speculating that "they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too."

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Winfrey's DNC speech addressed such divisive sentiment, as she urged people to "choose the sweet promise of tomorrow over the bitter return to yesterday," telling the audience, "We won't go back, set back, pushed back, bullied back, kicked back, we're not going back!"

Closing out her speech, Winfrey again offered a hopeful look toward the future.

"Let us choose truth, let us choose honor, and let us choose joy! Because that's the best of America, but more than anything else, let us choose freedom. Why? Because that's the best of America!" she said. "We're all Americans, and together let's all choose Kamala Harris!"

Winfrey's words joined similar sentiments spoken by other famous attendees who took the DNC stage in recent days, including Republican View cohost Ana Navarro, Scandal stars Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn, rapper Lil Jon, as well as Barack Obama and Michelle Obama.

Watch Winfrey speak at the DNC in the video above.