US President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have been chosen as Time magazine’s 2020 “Person of the Year,” the publication announced Thursday.
They edged out frontline health care workers (along with the nation’s leading infectious-disease expert, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci), the racial justice movement and President Trump for the distinction.
The Democratic former vice-president and his running mate, a California senator whose election broke gender and racial barriers, together “offered restoration and renewal in a single ticket,” Time said in a profile of the pair, published online with its announcement.
At 78, Biden is one of the oldest figures to be named Time person of the year, and follows last year’s pick, climate activist Greta Thunberg, who at 16 years old became the youngest person to be named as such.
This is the first time a vice president has been named as a Person of the Year, Time said.
“The Biden-Harris ticket represents something historic,” Time tweeted alongside a video of the announcement. “Person of the Year is not just about the year that was, but about where we’re headed.”