President Donald Trump risked further ridicule on Twitter on Friday when he claimed that Time magazine had told him he was likely to be their man of the year but that he had turned them down because they had asked for him to pose for a photo-shoot and undergo an interview with the news periodical.
Trump tweeted: ‘Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named “Man (Person) of the Year,” like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!’
However, the magazine soon replied on Twitter that the president was misinformed about how they chose their Person of the Year.
Last year, the magazine perhaps reluctantly named Mr Trump their man of the year. In an editorial explaining the decision, then-Editor in Chief Nancy Gibbs said: “For reminding America that demagoguery feeds on despair and that truth is only as powerful as the trust in those who speak it, for empowering a hidden electorate by mainstreaming its furies and live-streaming its fears, and for framing tomorrow’s political culture by demolishing yesterday’s, Donald Trump is TIME’s 2016 Person of the Year.”
The magazine hasn’t commented on Mr Trump’s statement, and in a live poll of readers that is running on their website Mr Trump is trailing a long way been Saudi crown prince Mohammed Salman, who is out front on 21%; Mr Trump is on 5%, and his sworn enemy Hillary Clinton is just a point behind him, alongside Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and pop singer Taylor Swift.
Memes began to appear on Twitter within hours of Mr Trump’s statement, as users of the social media service mocked him for his presumptuous behaviour or suggested other more deserving winners, including British tennis player Andy Murray and others: