Joe Biden, Kamala Harris named TIME’s 2020 Person of the Year

Via TIME's pick, a group called the Democratic Coalition noted, Trump — who was being considered — lost to Biden again.

America’s next president and vice president — Joe Biden and Kamala Harris — have been jointly named as TIME’s 2020 Person of the Year. 

The announcement came with just over 40 days before the inauguration of the Biden-Harris administration, an event that, according to the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Edward Felsenthal, will usher in a new era of empathy in America. 

A supporter of President-elect Joe Biden and President-elect Kamala Harris waves a calendar with them on the cover outside the Chase Center where Biden addressed the nation last week in Wilmington, Delaware. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“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,” Felsenthal wrote. 

The Democratic duo defeated President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in the Republicans’ bid for re-election Nov. 3, despite the outgoing commander-in-chief’s continuing refusal to accept the race’s outcome. 

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In an interview with the iconic publication, Biden said he was “widely criticized” for his decision “not to greet Trump with a clenched fist, but with more of an open hand. That we weren’t going to respond to hate with hate.”

Via its choice, an online organizing group called the Democratic Coalition noted Trump — who was being considered for TIME’s annual honor — had lost to Biden again

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In a separate interview, Vice President-elect Harris talked about being the first woman, first Black person and first Asian-American to hold that office. 

“I will be the first, but I will not be the last,” she said. “That’s about legacy, that’s about creating a pathway, that’s about leaving the door more open than it was when you walked in.” 

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The article notes that Biden and Harris talk every day by phone or via text. Harris has had regular input on the diverse Cabinet selections made by the president-elect. 

“The way that he refers to himself and her when he speaks, he’s already making his biggest decisions with her at [his] side,” said Maya Harris, Kamala’s sister and closest confidant.

According to her, Biden’s choice of her sister as a running mate was more than symbolic: “It’s substantive.”

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