Donald Trump’s nomination as TIME person of the year has proved as divisive as his Presidential campaign, with many taking to social media to share their reaction.
On Twitter, some were quick to suggest the President Elect followed in the company of Hitler, Stalin and Putin who had also received the iconic title.
Others lambasted them for overreacting and pointed out the Pope and Angela Merkel had also been named the winner before.
The magazine’s annual award names the person who has had the “greatest influence, for better or worse, on the events of the year”.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, The Ebola Fighters, The Pope, President Obama, Mark Zuckerberg, Former President George W Bush, and Julian Assange have also won the title before.
Trump has been named TIME's person of the year. I thought you had to be a actual human person to win that…#GoFigure #CrazyWorld
— Matthew Griffiths (@HashtagGriff) December 7, 2016
Trump considers being named Time's Person of the Year a "great honor." Hitler and Stalin both shared same "honor". #realDonaldTrump
— Laura Daly (@lldaly) December 7, 2016
TRUMP: The crooked media lies!
TIME: You're our Person of the Year.
TRUMP: TIME magazine is a great publication. I've always respected TIME.— Dustin Perry (@dustin_perry) December 7, 2016
TIME did Hitler, Stalin, and Putin before Trump – stop being so reactionary
— Mehdi H-P (@mhp94) December 7, 2016
The right needs to settle down TIME's cover label is spot on. Trump didn't win America, he won less than half of it.
— Jga (@TakeaBowPires) December 7, 2016
See @TIME's Person of the Year 2016 cover: Donald Trump, President of the Divided States of America #TIMEPOY https://t.co/SdK12YhoNr pic.twitter.com/WuYyWVpp6X
— Priyanka Aribindi (@priaribi) December 7, 2016
Wait, did Time really name Trump "Person of the Year"?! I thought that was a joke.
— Chaneen (@bliss116) December 7, 2016
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
Donald Trump named TIME Magazine's Person of the Year. In other news, Syria is named the must-visit destination of 2017.
— Ben Clynshaw (@clynshaw) December 7, 2016
To hell with TIME magazine and everybody else trying to play down Mr.Trump's win!
— Malik Obama (@ObamaMalik) December 7, 2016
I don't want to argue with Time Magazine, but I feel like calling Donald Trump a "person" is a bit of a stretch.
— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) December 7, 2016
DEAR @TIME: Hillary broke a barrier that stood for 227 years. Trump bullied his way to the presidency. Any questions?#personoftheyear
— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) December 7, 2016
The Republican President beat Hillary Clinton who came in number two and “the hackers” at number three. Turkish President Erdogan was number four while the CRISPR pioneers, who allowed scientists to alter DNA cheaply and easily beat Beyonce who came in at number 6.
TIME Editor-in-Chief Nancy Gibbs said the President-elect wrote: “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.”
TIME’s Washington Bureau Chief Michael Scherer said: “For all of Trump’s public life, tastemakers and intellectuals have dismissed him as a vulgarian and carnival barker, a showman with big flash and little substance. But what those critics never understood was that their disdain gave him strength.”
“Now he has up-ended the leadership of both major political parties and effectively shifted the political direction of the international order. He will soon command history’s most lethal military, along with economic levers that can change the lives of billions. And the people he has to thank are those he calls ‘the forgotten,’ millions of American voters who get paid by the hour in shoes that will never touch these carpets — working folk, regular Janes and Joes, the dots in the distance.”
This article originally appeared on news.com.au
