Through the twists and turns of the Trump administration, there’s at least one thing that observers can count on remaining — President Donald Trump’s egotism. He thinks he’s not only a great president but among the greatest in all of American history, and to that end, he told a reporter this week he thinks he should be named TIME magazine’s “Person of the Year.”
He went so far as to quip that he could imagine the honor going to no one else. The award, he said, shouldn’t go to any of the celebrities or community leaders who have made a positive impact around the United States — and world — but it should instead go to him, the guy who’s defined his time in office by incessant social media usage and golf.
He explained his perspective on who he thought the Person of the Year should be:
‘I don’t know, that is up to TIME magazine. I’ve been there before. I can’t imagine anybody other than Trump. Can you imagine anybody other than Trump?’
TRUMP closes by saying this about Time Person of the Year: “I can’t imagine anybody else other than Trump. Can you imagine anybody else other than Trump? Have a good time, everybody. Thank you.” pic.twitter.com/M8XVyZO4LI
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 20, 2018
As he indicated, he has been given the honor in the past. He was the choice for 2016 after he pulled off his surprise election victory over Hillary Clinton that has defined so many lives in the time since.
He has also most certainly pushed his egotism before. Last year, he claimed that he rejected the magazine’s offer to be pushed for the honor again because it wasn’t certain enough, but TIME said that was nonsense.
They asserted matter of factly:
‘The President is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year. TIME does not comment on our choice until publication, which is December 6.’
The president’s relationship with the honor doesn’t end there, though. The year before he received it in 2016 he complained too, publicly touting a piece from disgraced cable host Bill O’Reilly asserting Trump should have had the honor. (It went to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.) The then-presidential candidate went so far as to say O’Reilly should run the magazine.
Back in 2012, too, he complained about the magazine’s selection of people to highlight, this time as part of its 100 most influential people of the year. Forever the egomaniac, Trump said the publication lost all credibility just because they didn’t include him on that year’s list.
That take has extended to his current relationship with the media. He asserts that an outlet pushes “fake news” if they dare to even slightly counter him and his preferences. The press, though, is not the enemy of the people.
Trump just keeps pushing his take on the world anyway. Last year, it was discovered that the egomania had culminated in four fake TIME covers featuring Trump displayed at various golf properties.
Those covers came down, but the president is still at it.
For example, just this week, he said that the global intelligence and security community could have stopped 9/11 if only they’d paid attention to the — unwritten — conclusion in his 2000 book that Osama bin Laden was a threat.
The examples could go on and on.
Featured Image via Screenshot from the Video
