Washington – Time magazine named US president-elect Donald Trump as the 2016 Person of the Year, a pick that its editor called a “straightforward” choice given the way he has shaken up US society before even taking office.
The cover of the new edition shows Trump looking over his shoulder from an upholstered armchair with the title “President of the Divided States of America.”
Time editor Nancy Gibbs told NBC News that Trump’s selection was “one of the more straightforward” choices that the magazine has made, after the political novice dominated the 2016 campaign cycle on the way to a surprise victory in last month’s elections.
“When have we ever seen a single individual who has so defied expectations, broken the rules, violated norms, beaten not one, but two political parties on the way to winning an election that he entered with 100-to-1 odds against him?” Gibbs asked.
“I don’t think that we have ever seen one person operating in such an unconventional way have an impact on the events of the year quite like this.”
US president-elect Donald Trump on the final day of the Republican National Convention July 21, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo: Richard Ellis via ZUMA Wire)
The right-wing populist kick-started his bid for the conservative Republican Party’s presidential nomination with a vow to build a wall at the Mexican border; harsh comments about Mexicans working illegally in the United States; and opposition to trade agreements.
The magazine’s declaration was “a very, very great honour,” Trump said, though he took exception with the cover title.
“I didn’t divide them. They’re divided now,” he told NBC News.
“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. And we’re going to be a great economic force, and we’re going to build up our military and safety, and we’re going to do a lot of great things. It’s going to be something very special.”
Trump’s election comes as right-wing, anti-establishment politicians and parties are winning elections or gaining popularity in nations from Philippines to France.
- dpa
