Trump says he turned down Time's 'Person of the Year,' and no one's buying it
Unless you repressed all memories of 2016 (and who could blame you), you'll remember that Time named Donald Trump "Person of the Year." Now, the president is claiming that the magazine asked him again this year but, like, urgh who can even be bothered?
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In a tweet Friday, the president took time from his busy schedule of getting absolutely nothing from his agenda done to make a bold claim about rejecting the magazine's honor for 2017.
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
Twitter responded to the claim with a collective sigh and GIF of Ron Burgundy saying, "I don't believe you." Because, let's be real, just about the only predictable thing about Trump is that he'll do anything that makes him feel important. I mean, this is the guy who hung up a fake cover of him winning Time's Person of the Year award.
(Trump shares the honor of Person of the Year — which is determined by impact and not popularity — with other historically significant figures like Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. This year, though, initial polling had both the #MeToo campaign and mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz, beating Trump.)
CNN correspondent Brian Stetler said he reached out to Time for comment on Trump's claim, adding that "this sounds like part of the normal Person of the Year production process." They often do shoots with former winners, which is probably what they actually called the president about.
A former managing editor at Time supported this analysis:
Hate to tell you but that PROBABLY means you’re NOT Person of the Year. They just wanted a photo shoot. But I’m sure you still have that fake TIME cover somewhere in storage. https://t.co/HkW1XkKxXK
— Richard Stengel (@stengel) November 24, 2017
Trump’s ridiculously petty attempt to dump Time before Time could dump him sparked a barrage of satirical imitators.
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
Idris Elba called to say he would probably agree to date me but I said probably is no good and took a pass! https://t.co/27rU6ARYf7
— Jess Dweck (@TheDweck) November 24, 2017
Others captured just how battle-hardened we've become to Trump's Twitter bullshit in the long, long year since he was first named Person of the Year.
Nobody cares.
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) November 24, 2017
This Tweet is so sad. Imagine being super rich, President of the United States, and still being so needy for approval https://t.co/3WFlmqujoM
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) November 24, 2017
But, in our opinion, the most likely theory came from comedian Aparna Nancherla, who fixed the confusion by correcting yet another one of Trump's typo-laden mistakes.
Fixed it pic.twitter.com/BAQZtS8ju6
— Aparna Nancherla (@aparnapkin) November 24, 2017
Well, bud, there's always next year!
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