Time Names Those Speaking About Sexual Assault "Person Of The Year"

President Trump, the runner-up, had previously said he was "probably" going to be named for the top spot, but "took a pass." The editor-in-chief of the magazine said that was not the case.

Time magazine announced its Person of the Year on the Today show Wednesday morning, naming "The Silence Breakers," the group of women and men who recently came forward to tell stories of sexual harassment and assault.

"This is the fastest-moving social change we've seen in decades, and it began by individual acts of courage by women, and some men, too, who came forward," Time's editor-in-chief, Edward Felsenthal, said.

One of the women profiled is Tarana Burke, creator of the hashtag #MeToo.

The magazine named President Donald Trump as this year's runner-up. Trump previously tweeted that Time had personally called him and said he would "probably" be Person of the Year, and he said he turned it down.

Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named “Man (Person) of the Year,” like last year, but I… https://t.co/yFDS5Pz9yB

Felsenthal said on the Today show Wednesday that the president's tweet "wasn't correct" and that the magazine had done the photo shoot for the reveal five days before Trump's comments. He added that Trump came in second "because he has changed the nature of the presidency and the way the White House functions."

"He's on the verge of his first legislative victory, he's reshaping the judiciary and rolling back regulations," he said.

"We didn't say 'probably,'" Felsenthal clarified, referring to the president's previous tweet. "But you know how it goes."

Trump was Time's 2016 Person of the Year.

CORRECTION

Edward Felsenthal is Time's editor-in-chief. The original version of this post misstated his name.

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