President-elect Donald Trump has been named Time’s 2016 “Person of the Year” and social media has a lot of feelings about it. According to Time, Trump was chosen for the following reasons:
“For reminding America that demagoguery feeds on despair and that truth is only as powerful as the trust in those who speak it, for empowering a hidden electorate by mainstreaming its furies and live-streaming its fears, and for framing tomorrow’s political culture by demolishing yesterday’s, Donald Trump is TIME’s 2016 Person of the Year.”
The winner of the yearly honor is chosen based on how they influenced the news, whether it was good or bad. Within the magazine’s profile of the latest “Person of the Year,” Trump was referred to as the “President of the Divided States of America,” to which he apparently took issue. “When you say ‘divided states of America,’ I didn’t divide them,” Trump told Matt Lauer on the Today Show. “They’re divided now, there’s a lot of division. And we’re going to put it back together.”
On the shortlist this year were Mark Zuckerberg, Beyonce, Simone Biles, Vladimir Putin, the Flint, Michigan whistleblowers, Nigel Farage, Narendra Modi, CRISPR scientists, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Hillary Clinton. Other contenders included Bernie Sanders, Colin Kaepernick, Julian Assange, Barack Obama and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Previous winners include the Ebola fighters, Pope Francis, Martin Luther King, Jr. and multiple former presidents.
Take a look at some of the reactions to Trump being named “Person of the Year”:
Social Media Reacts to Trump Being Named “Person of the Year”
Just a reminder.
Hitler.
Stalin.
Putin.
Trump.Time Person of the Year.
Trump actually very much deserves to be in this company. pic.twitter.com/MTty3EMGGH
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) December 7, 2016
We all won times person of the year in 2006. You know who else won that? Hitler. pic.twitter.com/95Lhv89YmO
— Lord Cup (@jewcup) December 7, 2016
now the president-elect Donald Trump is TIME's Person Of The Year !
Give that art director a raise pic.twitter.com/OfoQnaXCv9— isra (@itsisraelsolano) December 7, 2016
At this point, the Person of the Year should just be Satan
— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) December 7, 2016
TIME Magazine Person of the Year: 1938 and 2016.
Spot the difference. pic.twitter.com/NYglF4Aiq7
— Cal (@Panayisalad) December 7, 2016
Trump is Time's Person of the Year. But I'm guessing Hillary got more votes #GetIt #ThatsWhatHappenedWithTheOtherThing
— Eric Stangel (@EricStangel) December 7, 2016
Congratulations
Time's Person Of The Year
✨Donald J Trump✨#AmericaFirst #MAGA pic.twitter.com/3GBqpCxY7N— Eagle Wings (@CRRJA5) December 7, 2016
Donald Trump wins TIME Person of the Year 2016. Trump tweets that he would have won by more had all his ex-wives voted.
— kristian carter (@krstncrtr) December 7, 2016
Hey folks: chill about Trump being @TIME Person of the Year. So was Hitler. It's not an endorsement, it just signifies he had a huge impact.
— Matthew Chapman (@fawfulfan) December 7, 2016
Of course he's the person of the year. Only person w/ a bigger effect on 2016 is The Grim Reaper & he wouldn't sit for a picture. Or did he? pic.twitter.com/PHQ5bcNEt7
— W. Kamau Bell (@wkamaubell) December 7, 2016
What are your thoughts on Donald Trump being named Time’s “Person of the Year”? Sound off in the comments section below!
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore, Flickr