Taylor Swift, not Trump, is Time 2023 person of the year; post recycles old photo | Fact check
The claim: Post implies Trump is Time magazine's 2023 person of the year
A Dec. 6 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows former President Donald Trump on the cover of Time magazine, looking over his shoulder while seated in a chair.
“Donald J Trump: TIME Person of the Year,” reads the caption of the post from conservative commentator Nick Adams.
Many commenters took the post to mean Trump was named the magazine's 2023 person of the year.
"Great news," commented one user.
"About time! Best President ever," wrote another.
The post was shared more than 400 times in two days.
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Our rating: Missing context
The implied claim here is wrong. Trump was Time magazine's person of the year in 2016, not in 2023. Singer Taylor Swift is the magazine's 2023 person of the year.
Swift, not Trump, 2023 person of the year
Time magazine gives its "person of the year" title to “individuals who most shaped the headlines over the previous 12 months, for better or for worse.”
Trump was given the title in 2016 when he was the president-elect. Time magazine often gives the title to presidents-elect during an election year, according to a public list that has tracked title holders dating back to 1927.
“For those who believe this is all for the better, Trump’s victory represents a long-overdue rebuke to an entrenched and arrogant governing class; for those who see it as for the worse, the destruction extends to cherished norms of civility and discourse, a politics poisoned by vile streams of racism, sexism, nativism,” the magazine wrote.
Swift was named the magazine's 2023 person of the year on Dec. 5, the day before Adams' post. The Time story cites her achievement of "a kind of nuclear fusion" in "shooting art and commerce together to release an energy of historic force.”
“She did it by embracing what she does better than anyone, entertaining and writing songs that connect with people,” reads part of the Time story.
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Some Trump supporters have voiced displeasure with Swift's selection, citing a baseless conspiracy theory that the singer is part of a Deep State operation to promote the Democratic Party in 2024.
Paste BN debunked a similar claim in 2020 when another Facebook user similarly posted Trump’s 2016 magazine cover. President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris were named people of the year.
Paste BN reached out to Adams for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Our fact-check sources:
- Time magazine, Dec. 6, Time Reveals the 2023 Person of the Year, CEO of the Year and Athlete of the Year
- Time magazine, accessed Dec. 8, The Choice
- Time magazine, Dec. 5, 2023 The Choice: Taylor Swift
- OpenDataSoft, accessed Dec. 8, Time's Person of the Year, 1927-present data
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