On Friday, US President Donald Trump tweeted that he had turned down an offer to be a candidate for Time magazine’s prestigious “Person of the Year” feature.
Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named “Man (Person) of the Year,” like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 24, 2017
But the magazine swiftly rebutted Trump’s claim. “The President is incorrect about how we choose Person of The Year,” Time tweeted.
The President is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year. TIME does not comment on our choice until publication, which is December 6.
— TIME (@TIME) November 25, 2017
The magazine’s “Person of The Year” is a fixture about who has “most affected the news” for better or worse. George W Bush, Mohandas Gandhi, Angela Merkel, Pope Francis and Barack Obama are among those who have been recognised as much. The list also includes names such as Adolf Hitler, Ayatollah Khomeini and Joseph Stalin.
Donald Trump bagged the honour in 2016. “This is the 90th time we have named the person who had the greatest influence, for better or worse, on the events of the year,” the magazine explained in 2016. “So which is it this year: Better or worse? The challenge for Donald Trump is how profoundly the country disagrees about the answer.”
Mr. President, just to clarify things, I wanted to offer a few statistics. Number of times you were Person of the Year during the 7 years I was editor of Time: 0. Number of times you were on the cover: 0. Number of times you made the Time 100 influentials list: 0. Thanks anyway!
— Richard Stengel (@stengel) November 25, 2017
Despite being featured on the cover, Trump has has a combative relationship with the magazine, which mirror his distaste and distrust of most American publications.
In June, the magazine had asked Trump to remove from his golfing clubs framed copies of a fake cover featuring himself. Trump has also been critical of the magazine’s covers from time to time. In 2012, he tweeted that the magazine had lost its credibility for not having named him in their list of Top 100 most influential people.
Trump’s latest complaint sparked off a hilarious set of me-toos on Twitter.
Bbc just called to say I was PROBABLY going to be named sports personality of the year but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) November 24, 2017
congrats to Donald Trump on winning Time Magazine's 'Person of the Year' electoral vote
— Matt Oswalt (@MattOswaltVA) November 25, 2017
“Good Boy Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named “Dog of the Year,” like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway” pic.twitter.com/z4pDhvoJ23
— Vanessa Ramos (@thatRamosgirl) November 25, 2017
Hollywood called to say that The Big Sick was PROBABLY going to be named “Movie (Film) of the Century,” & make a billion dollars at the box office (domestic) & win every Oscar, even ones from years past. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) November 25, 2017
.@nytimes just called to say I was PROBABLY going to be named comedienne of the year but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway! @andy_murray
— Julia Louis-Dreyfus (@OfficialJLD) November 25, 2017
Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be on the cover this year but I would have to agree to a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!
— Lizz Winstead (@lizzwinstead) November 25, 2017
.@realDonaldTrump I found your photo shoot for @TIME pic.twitter.com/BaAYQHpdki
— rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) November 25, 2017
Everything about Trump's Time tweet makes me sad. That the President of the United States felt the need to tweet it. That so much energy was spent responding to/mocking it. In a country with real problems, the constant distractions of Trump's presidency impose a real cost.
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) November 25, 2017
