*Time Magazine has named President-elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as 2020’s Person of the Year.
“For changing the American story, for showing that the forces of empathy are greater than the furies of division, for sharing a vision of healing in a grieving world, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are TIME’s 2020 Person of the Year,” wrote Time editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal.
“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.” Check out the video below.
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Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are TIME’s 2020 Person of the Year #TIMEPOY https://t.co/o97QNlSBrl pic.twitter.com/KuoBoebBN4
— TIME (@TIME) December 11, 2020
The annual recognition was awarded to “the individual or group of people who affected the news or our lives the most, for better or worse,” the publication announced on Thursday.
“Biden and Harris share a faith that empathetic governance can restore the solidarity we’ve lost,” Time Magazine wrote in its tribute to the dynamic duo. “… All new Presidents inherit messes from their predecessors, but Biden is the first to have to think about literally decontaminating the White House. Combatting the pandemic is only the start of the challenge, at home and abroad. There are alliances to rebuild, a stimulus package to pass, a government to staff.”
The Biden-Harris ticket represents something historic.
Person of the Year is not just about the year that was, but about where we’re headed #TIMEPOY https://t.co/H4uzUe8Pli pic.twitter.com/YMylCvbkZT
— TIME (@TIME) December 11, 2020
“Even if Trump still captivates a broad swath of the country, the President-elect believes the rancor will fade as Trump exits stage right,” Time wrote. “…On Jan. 20, the lights will come up, and the show will go on.”
Meanwhile, Vanessa Bryant appeared in a pre-recorded message during the Time Person of the Year presentation’s In Memoriam to help honor her late husband Kobe Bryant.
“Words cannot do justice to the grief we felt this year. At every level of human connection from across the world to across the table, we experienced profound loss,” Vanessa said, per PEOPLE.
“We said goodbye to husbands, daughters, wives, sons, grandparents, friends and national heroes,” she added. “And we continue to count the lives surrendered to this cruel pandemic, which has claimed well over a million souls, worldwide.”
Kobe and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna died in a tragic helicopter crash in Calabasas, California in January. The wreck also killed seven others aboard the flight, including the pilot.
Watch: @YoYo_Ma and Kathryn Stott perform “Over the Rainbow” as we remember those we’ve lost this year #TIMEPOY pic.twitter.com/kBO6nvRhvM
— TIME (@TIME) December 11, 2020
