Former CNN host Don Lemon struggled to comprehend Thursday that President-elect Donald Trump has been named Time Magazine’s 2024 “Person of the Year.”
The magazine has awarded the president-elect with this title for the second time, the first being after he defeated former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016. Lemon questioned whether or not the public is “being scammed” as there is no possibility that Trump could be eligible to be given this title.
“Now when you think about what encompasses ‘Person of the Year,’ just because you are elected President of the United States does not mean you should be ‘Person of the Year.’ Time Magazine, what are you doing?” Lemon asked. “Let me ask you Time Magazine, what do you say to the women who I guess still read Time Magazine? … What about the women who are on that list? I’m sure some of them will have dealt with issues that women have to deal with, like discrimination in the workplace, [sexual assault], all kinds of things? You have someone on the cover of your magazine who is an adjudicated assaulter, you have someone who inspired an insurrection, you have someone who without a doubt, the evidence is there, tried to overturn a free and fair election. You had someone who had multiple criminal counts and found guilty on multiple criminal counts.”
“And you name [Trump] ‘Person of the Year.’ Is this a joke? Did we get something wrong? Did someone scam us? Are we sure about this, producers?” Lemon continued. “There is a convicted felon on the cover of Time Magazine as ‘Person of the Year.’ Maybe we’re being scammed. Did someone put out a fake tweet or something about this?”
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The magazine covered the president-elect’s “unparalleled” political comeback after he had endured two assassination attempts, got convicted in May on 34 felony counts in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s criminal case, won all seven battleground states and became the first Republican nominee in 20 years to win the popular vote. Trump faced separate criminal indictments related to his alleged unlawful storage of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and his alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election results during the certification of the electoral votes in Washington, D.C.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged Trump under the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia. The president-elect’s legal team requested in a Dec. 4 filing that the state of Georgia dismiss the charges due to his upcoming presidential term.
“Trump’s political rebirth is unparalleled in American history,” Time Magazine’s Eric Cortellessa wrote. “His first term ended in disgrace, with his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results culminating in the attack on the U.S. Capitol. He was shunned by most party officials when he announced his candidacy in late 2022 amid multiple criminal investigations. Little more than a year later, Trump cleared the Republican field, clinching one of the fastest contested presidential primaries in history. He spent six weeks during the general election in a New York City courtroom, the first former President to be convicted of a crime—a fact that did little to dampen his support.”
The president-elect ultimately ran against two Democratic opponents in the 2024 election following President Joe Biden’s exit from the race on July 21. Vice President Kamala Harris then became the party’s nominee, raised nearly $1.5 billion and gained a large amount of momentum in the early stage of her 15-week-long race.
Featured Image Credit: The White House
