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Trump Runner-up for Time 'Person of the Year' Behind #MeToo Sexual Harassment Victims Movement

President Donald Trump / Getty Images
December 6, 2017

President Donald Trump was first runner-up for Time's "Person of the Year" in 2017 behind women who have come forward with their stories of being sexually harassed.

Called "The Silence Breakers" by the magazine, the women of the #MeToo movement have put a spotlight on sexual harassment by powerful figures in Hollywood, politics, corporate America and the media. The "Person of the Year" is bestowed on the person or persons the magazine feels has most influenced the news.

Since reports first emerged on decades of harassment and abuse allegations against movie producer Harvey Weinstein in October, such prominent men as Charlie Rose, Matt Lauer and Kevin Spacey have seen their careers derail after they too were accused of rampant sexual misconduct throughout their careers.

Trump, who was named "Person of the Year" in 2016 after his stunning presidential victory, claimed last month the magazine told him he was "probably" going to be named the "Person of the Year" again but said he passed, adding, "Thanks anyway!"

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/934189999045693441

Time wrote, "Trump’s tweet was not accurate: TIME made no assurances and placed no conditions on the outcome of our editorial decision making."

In writing about Trump in 2017, Time said he had "changed the rules of the presidency."

"The passing feuds, the wild accusations, the crude and divisive language­—­no other Commander in Chief has broadcast his outbursts in such an unfiltered torrent," Time wrote. "He has spurned traditional allies and democratic values overseas, carried into office a sprawling business empire and the potential conflicts of interest that come with it, pitted American corporations against each other in high-profile face-offs, and gleefully gone to war with the press, with leaders of his own party, with his long defeated political opponents. Even his most loyal allies struggle to understand the behavior."

The runners-up behind Trump for "Person of the Year" were Chinese President Xi Jinping, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, and Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins.