In just a couple of weeks, we’ll find out who has the distinction of being Time’s 2017 Person of the Year—typically, yes, a person (though it can also be a group, object, or idea) who has most influenced the year’s events, whether that’s in a good way or not so much. Last year, the nomination went to just-elected, not-yet-inaugurated Donald Trump. But the now-President is apparently contemplating his place in the canon once again: On Friday, Trump tweeted that he was “PROBABLY going to be named” (emphasis his) Person of the Year once again; however, he wrote, he turned the magazine’s offer down because “probably” just wasn’t good enough. And it wasn’t long before Time issued a correction to Trump’s story.
Trump tweeted, “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!”
A few hours later, the magazine tweeted its response, stating, “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.”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/934189999045693441
Even the chief content officer of Time Inc. tweeted to clarify Trump’s claim: “Amazing. Not a speck of truth here—Trump tweets he ‘took a pass’ at being named TIME’s person of the year.”
Of course, Twitter users threw their two cents into the ring about Trump’s tweet—and the results were incredible.
https://twitter.com/TheEricGoldman/status/934435176012169219
(Speaking of, it’s worth noting that #MeToo is currently beating Trump in Time‘s reader poll for Person of the Year nominations.)
When Trump was named 2016’s Person of the Year, he told Matt Lauer that he considered it “a very, very great honor.” Meanwhile, the magazine’s then-editor-in-chief, Nancy Gibbs, wrote about Trump’s nomination following the announcement: “So which is it this year: Better or worse? The challenge for Donald Trump is how profoundly the country disagrees about the answer.”
It’s not the first time Trump’s had a thing about Time: He often brags about the number of times he’s appeared on the publication’s cover. He’s even claimed to hold the record for number of cover appearances, at 14—however, former President Nixon has had more than three times as many. Earlier this year, it came out that Trump displayed fake issues of Time with his face on the cover in five of his golf clubs.
In the meantime, we’ll be waiting to find out who the person of the year actually will be—but for now, it seems we can chalk Trump’s tweet up to fake news.
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