In a last-ditch effort for relevance, Time magazine has named Donald Trump its Person of the Year for 2024.

Seriously, Time? Enlighten me with something new.

Last month, over 77 million Americans, myself included, voted for Trump as their president. For nearly ten years, he has dominated headlines, whether campaigning or serving in office.

Trump is not merely the Person of the Year; he’s the figure of our current moment. We’re living in Trump’s world, including Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Time magazine.

Time magazine has to recognize Trump’s achievements

The magazine’s extensive profile of the returning president acknowledges that “Trump’s political comeback is without parallel in American history,” noting his victories over two Democratic rivals, his success in all seven swing states, and being the first Republican to win the popular vote in two decades.

However, with their cynical leftist perspective, the authors of the article question America’s decision. Much of the profile examines Trump’s strategy, campaign team, and history.

“Whether Trump can address the underlying issues fueling Americans’ frustrations is still up for debate. He will soon discover how far the nation will let him take it,” the article suggests. “If he succeeds, he could reshape the nation. Yet, he risks dismantling the constitutional norms and institutions that have preserved America’s democratic experiment for over 250 years.”

While I also harbor doubts about Trump, being a Republican myself, the constant references to “constitutional norms” regarding Trump, without addressing the multiple norms Biden, Harris, and their party have disregarded this past year, pushes me closer to dismissing Time magazine as completely irrelevant.

Time appears to be exploiting Trump just as he has leveraged them to feel influential and self-important. (I support him as my president-elect, but he continues to crave attention and theatrics.)

The interplay between the media and Trump is a self-serving and toxic cycle.

Time can’t stop featuring Trump on its covers

Time’s editors elaborate on their reasoning behind selecting Trump as their Person of the Year. Beyond the main profile, there’s an article detailing how the cover image came to be and another discussing the “stories behind” Times’ numerous Trump features.

Trump has graced the cover of Time 43 times, exceeding both Bill Clinton (40 times) and Barack Obama (31 times). And he hasn’t even started his second term yet.

The latest cover shows Trump as strong and resolute. However, the magazine has frequently depicted him unfavorably, such as during the COVID-19 crisis when he was illustrated as a man submerged in water.

In October 2016, Time depicted Trump as a melting orange figure, just days before he won the presidency. (That was a significant oversight.)

Time openly confesses its obsession with Trump: “In subsequent years, we framed him as an erratic Twitter user dismantling the Washington monument (Mar 20, 2017), a target for criticism (Oct 9, 2017), a chaotic force (Nov 6, 2017), an enraged character with fiery hair (Jan 22, 2018), a blend of himself and Vladimir Putin (July 30, 2018), a monarch gazing at his reflection (June 18, 2018), a fighter armed with a slingshot battling Nancy Pelosi (Jan 21, 2019), a cheerful President under an umbrella in the rain (April 8, 2019), and a man in a corner with nowhere to turn (Oct 7, 2019).”

Is everything alright at Time? Someone ought to check in on them.

Even Time magazine must concede that Trump remains the focal point of contemporary news. He’s back on the cover of a once-revered but now largely insignificant magazine. Meanwhile, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris sulk in a corner of the White House.

As William Makepeace Thackeray once remarked, “All is vanity; nothing is just.”