Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Named Time’s 2020 Person of the Year
Time Magazine
Time Magazine announced President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as 2020 Person of the Year at the end of an hourlong television special on NBC. Considered to be a great honor, the Person of the Year was named to be two people for their roles in the groundbreaking election season this year.
After a long and highly publicized election, Joe Biden, the former vice president under President Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, the first Black, South Asian woman to be elected Vice President were declared the clear winners. Around nine presidents have been selected to be on Time’s cover including Donald Trump in 2016, but Edward Felsenthal, the editor in chief and chief executive officer of Time, stated that this was the first time a vice president would be included.
“Person of the year is not just about the year that was but about where we’re headed,” Felsenthal said. “The next four years are going to be an enormous test of them and all of us to see whether they can bring about the unity that they promised.”
The other three nominations for the person of the year included President Trump for his influence in 2020, frontline health care workers and Dr. Anthony Fauci for their contributions during the coronavirus pandemic, and the movement for racial justice for drawing attention to injustices at the hands of police. Although Time Magazine awarded frontline health care workers with 2020 Guardians of the Year, critics were still upset that the person of the year should have been someone who contributed to the pandemic.
K-Pop boy group, BTS was named Entertainer of the Year and Lebron James as Athlete of the Year.
In 2019, Time named Greta Thunberg, the young climate activist as the person of the year over Trump, Nancy Pelosi, and the Ukraine whistle-blower and the Hong Kong protesters.
President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris are set to appear on the cover side by side on December 21.