Joe Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), were named Time magazine’s person of the year on Thursday, beating out three other contenders, including healthcare workers on the frontline of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Biden and Harris, who have been declared the victors of the 2020 presidential race by numerous media outlets, received the magazine’s “person of the year” recognition “for showing that the forces of empathy are greater than the furies of division.”
In an essay announcing the selection, Time’s editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal credited the Biden-Harris ticket for sending a powerful message about America’s commitment to diversity in “a year that saw an epic struggle for racial justice, and one of the most consequential elections in history.”
“If Donald Trump was a force for disruption and division over the past four years, Biden and Harris show where the nation is heading: a blend of ethnicities, lived experiences and world views that must find a way forward together if the American experiment is to survive,” Felsenthal wrote.
Biden and Harris bested three other contenders for the honor: Trump, “the moment” for racial justice that sprung up this year after George Floyd’s death in police custody, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, and healthcare workers on the frontline of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Time’s decision comes as the coronavirus is resurgent across much of the United States.