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Time magazine slammed for naming Joe Biden-Kamala Harris '2020 Person of the Year', Twitter says Fauci deserved it

'Are they one person now? Can we call them Jomala?' a user commented

Time magazine faced the heat on social media after the publication declared President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris its 2020 'Person Of The Year' as many of the users pointed out how top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci - who was among the people on the shortlist for the prestigious title as well as healthcare workers, who tirelessly worked in hospitals and other medical centers across the world to treat patients infected with the coronavirus - were far more deserving of that honor. 

There were four options on the shortlist for winning the coveted title - as announced on Thursday, December 10 morning during NBC’s 'Today' show. The finalists were Biden; President Donald Trump; frontline health care workers and Fauci; and the movement for racial justice that started with the tragic killing of the African-American man, George Floyd. 

"Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are TIME's 2020 Person of the Year," Time magazine tweeted among with a photo of the cover featuring the politicians who successfully ran on the 2020 presidential ticket and won. The tweet also contained a link to an exclusive interview by the pair. 

Edward Felsenthal, TIME CEO and Editor-in-chief said: "Person of the Year is not just about the year that was but about where we're headed, and the next four years are going to be an enormous test of them and all of us to see whether they can bring about the unity they've promised." Felsenthal said this was the "hardest year" to narrow down to just four Person of the Year finalists. "So many massive stories all over the world...racial justice, the pandemic, presidential election, wildfires, a really, really challenging year to make this call," said Felsenthal.

It is important to note that Fauci was awarded the title of the Guardian of the Year. And frontline health workers were also named Guardians of the Year, as were Assa Traoré, Porche Bennett-Bey and racial justice organizers.

While Biden and Harris did achieve quite a lot this year by successfully running a campaign and defeating an incumbent president all under the considerable restrictions and limitations posed by the ongoing global pandemic, did they really do enough to top the hundreds of millions of healthcare workers who are still battling with the invisible enemy across the world? Many social media users didn't think so. 

"I'm relieved it wasn't you-know-who, happy for Joe and Kamala but in my heart, I believe those on the front line - particularly the healthcare workers, deserved this honor." one of them said, while another quipped, "Dr. Fauci and the frontline healthcare workers are MY person of the year!" A third noted, "My #2 pick. I really thought frontline Covid19 n Fauci should have gotten the 2020 nod."

One more wrote, "I still think it should be 'The Healthcare Worker.'" The next said, "Should have been health care workers." Another commented, "Should’ve been Keanu Reeves. Or all of the healthcare workers." A commenter noted, "Should've been the Frontline workers, by a large margin." One more tweeted, "While I am happy and relieved they won, the cover really should have been the frontline workers." One user pointed out, "Sorry, but hands down it should have been the frontline medical workers." Another said, "Not the COVID-19 frontline workers?"

There were also those who were confused about the addition of Harris as she was not on the shortlist. Some also pointed out how it should have been "persons" of the year if the magazine was planning to declare more than one winner. "Are they one person now? Can we call them Jomala?" one said while another commented, "Shouldn't it be 'Persons of the Year?' They are two individuals..." One more remarked, "They together make “Person of the Year”, which is a singular noun. Does that mean neither of them counts as 'one person'?"

A commenter said, "I guess they can share the cover bc they're 1 in the same 'SNAKE OF THE YEAR' They'll have competition soon enough for that title though!" One more tweeted, "So....they’re one person?" The next commented, "Should be persons of the year." And one more stated, "Two people counted for one person of the year. Like the irony."

In the interview, the president-elect said that "his pledge to restore the 'soul of the nation' felt like antiquated hokum at a moment when Hurricane Trump was tearing through America, ripping through institutions, chewing up norms and spitting them out" and as a result, he was advised against using it as the focal point f his campaign. “I got widely criticized,” Biden recalled, for “saying that we had to not greet Trump with a clenched fist but with more of an open hand. That we weren’t going to respond to hate with hate.” 

Biden said that he was sure that after enduring four years of Trump's often-chaotic presidency, what the nation craved was craved decency, dignity, experience and competence. “What I got most criticized for was, I said we had to unite America,” he said. “I never came off that message.”

His pick of Harris as his running mate was also touted not only within the U.S. but across the world, as she broke multiple glass ceilings simply by running for the second-highest office on the land, being not only the first woman to do so but also the first woman of color as well as a woman of Asian descent. The cherry on the top was the fact that she won. “I will be the first, but I will not be the last,” Harris says in a separate interview. “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.”