Donald Trump was chosen as the Times person of the year 2016. Although Trump gestured to have been humbled by the award, he didn’t seem very happy about being called the ‘president of the divided states of America’. Despite this, he called Time’s selection a ‘tremendous honor’. Alongside the President-elect, there were other front runner contenders such as Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton, Beyonce and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
I told you @TIME Magazine would never pick me as person of the year despite being the big favorite They picked person who is ruining Germany
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 9 December 2015
Following the 2016 selection, Trump forwarded his gratitude to all the Trump supporters who he calls the ‘forgotten ones’. However, as the news spread over, Time started being criticized for their misjudgment. At the same time, people expressed their views about aligning Trump alongside Hitler, Putin, and Stalin. Similarly, some people could also notice M placed directly above Trump’s head – representing devil’s horns – on the Times cover photo.
Donald Trump is TIME’s Person of the Year 2016 #TIMEPOY https://t.co/5pTGOksevE pic.twitter.com/N8BtqTu9Nl
— TIME (@TIME) 7 December 2016
In a phone interview with NBC show Today, trump became very open about what he liked about the selection and what he didn’t. He said, “When you say divided states of America, I didn’t divide them. They’re divided now. I mean there’s a lot of division, and we’re going to put it back together and we’re going to have a country that’s very well healed.” Along with this statement, Trump also stated that Time is a very important magazine and he feels lucky to be on its cover once again.
