US President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have been chosen as Time magazine’s 2020 “Person of the Year,” the publication announced Thursday.
Biden and Harris were selected from a shortlist that included Donald Trump, frontline health care workers with Dr Anthoney Fauci, and the movement for racial justice.
“The Biden Harris ticket represents something historic,” said Time’s editor-in-chief, Edward Felsenthal, on their new NBC broadcast heralding the feature.
Highlighting the President of the United States on the cover of Time isn’t new, every elected President since Franklin D. Roosevelt until now has appeared on the historic cover. However, this is the first time a Vice President has been named person of the year, Variety.com reports.
Felsenthal said, “Person of the Year is not just about the year that was but about where we’re headed. And the next four years is going to be an enormous test of them, and all of us, to see whether they can bring about the unity they promised.”
Announced by Bruce Springsteen, the reveal was presented via NBC broadcast which contained several poignant vignettes moments in memoriam musical tribute of “Over the Rainbow” from Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott.
Time also named BTS entertainer of the year. LeBron James was named athlete of the year and Gitanjali Rao a 15-year-old scientist and inventor was named the first kid of the year.
Guardians of the year included frontline health workers, with Porche Bennett-Bey and racial-justice organizers and Dr Anthony Fauci.
