Tipsheet

Reminder: Time's Person Of The Year Isn't An "Honor"

It's worth pointing out that Time magazine's "Person of the Year" (formerly "Man of the Year") is not an honor and should not be construed as such. Instead, the title should be perceived as "newsmaker of the year." This is why such figures as Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, and Ayatollah Khomeini have all "won" the "award."

Donald Trump was the recipient of this year's title. This caused many to scorn on Twitter that the aforementioned dictators had also "won" their own titles, in addition to acting as though Time had designated Trump as Best Person of the Year.

But again this is not an honor. Anyone (including literally everyone in 2006) can be "Person of the Year" if they're the biggest newsmaker of the year. Trump was the biggest newsmaker this year, and it wasn't even close. Everything he did--from his tweets to his steak preferences was reported as news--and this was before he won the presidency.

Everyone needs to cut it out with the Trump derangement syndrome.