Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg is TIME’s 2019 Person of the Year, the magazine announced on Wednesday.
The 16-year-old, who has become the public face of climate change activism since leading school strikes in her home country of Sweden, topped President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to win the accolade. “I’d like to tell my grandchildren that we did everything we could,” she told TIME magazine. “And we did it for them and for the generations to come.”
Self-Avowed ‘Socialist Socialite’ Roasted After Mocking Budget Dress Worn by Hegseth’s Wife
Teacher’s ‘Disgusting’ Comment About White House Correspondents’ Dinner Shooting Gets Him Placed on Leave
Ghost in the gallery: George Washington looks on as King Charles addresses Congress
Dem and GOP lawmakers trade blame over rhetoric after WHCD shooting: ‘It is disgusting’
Dem plot to limit Trump war powers on Cuba fails as GOP falls in line with military action abroad
Five key themes of King Charles III’s address to Congress
Starmer escapes inquiry on Mandelson vetting by a Parliament vote
Tim Walz Shamed After Trying to Take Credit for Federal Raids on Somali-Owned Minnesota Businesses
ABC Not Firing Jimmy Kimmel After Melania ‘Widow’ Comments Feels Like Network Flipping Off Millions
Influencer’s body returns home after safari getaway as missing ring and fiancé questions cloud case: report
Melania Trump, Queen Camilla team up at White House youth event spotlighting US-UK bond
Body camera video shows police officer allegedly kidnapped by armed robbery suspect in roadside showdown
WATCH: Ilhan Omar roasted for brutal resurfaced video about ‘World War Eleven’
Trump Says Iran Just Alerted Him That They Are in ‘A State of Collapse’
Melania Trump and Queen Camilla tour technology-in-education event at the White House
.@GretaThunberg is TIME's 2019 Person of the Year #TIMEPOY https://t.co/YZ7U6Up76v pic.twitter.com/SWALBfeGl6
— TIME (@TIME) December 11, 2019
TIME’s editor-in-chief, Edward Felsenthal, unveiled this year’s winner on NBC’s Today Show, describing Thunberg as the “biggest voice on the biggest issue facing the planet.”
“She became the biggest voice on the biggest issue facing the planet this year.” TIME Editor-in-Chief @efelsenthal talks about why TIME chose @GretaThunberg to be Person of the Year.
Thunberg, 16, is also the youngest person to ever receive the honor. pic.twitter.com/eTvLAiRtFW
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) December 11, 2019
Self-Avowed ‘Socialist Socialite’ Roasted After Mocking Budget Dress Worn by Hegseth’s Wife
Teacher’s ‘Disgusting’ Comment About White House Correspondents’ Dinner Shooting Gets Him Placed on Leave
Ghost in the gallery: George Washington looks on as King Charles addresses Congress
Dem and GOP lawmakers trade blame over rhetoric after WHCD shooting: ‘It is disgusting’
Dem plot to limit Trump war powers on Cuba fails as GOP falls in line with military action abroad
Five key themes of King Charles III’s address to Congress
Starmer escapes inquiry on Mandelson vetting by a Parliament vote
Tim Walz Shamed After Trying to Take Credit for Federal Raids on Somali-Owned Minnesota Businesses
ABC Not Firing Jimmy Kimmel After Melania ‘Widow’ Comments Feels Like Network Flipping Off Millions
Influencer’s body returns home after safari getaway as missing ring and fiancé questions cloud case: report
Melania Trump, Queen Camilla team up at White House youth event spotlighting US-UK bond
Body camera video shows police officer allegedly kidnapped by armed robbery suspect in roadside showdown
WATCH: Ilhan Omar roasted for brutal resurfaced video about ‘World War Eleven’
Trump Says Iran Just Alerted Him That They Are in ‘A State of Collapse’
Melania Trump and Queen Camilla tour technology-in-education event at the White House
“She also represents a broader generational shift in the culture that we’re seeing from the campuses of Hong Kong to the protests in Chile to Parkland, Florida, where the students marched against gun violence where young people are demanding change urgently,” said Felsenthal.
Thunberg garnered headlines earlier this year for sailing — rather than flying — from England to New York City to attended the United Nations climate summit. During the conference, Thunberg raised eyebrows for a pointed speech in which she angerly accused world leaders of robbing her and other young people of their future due to their inaction on so-called global warming.
“This is all wrong. I shouldn’t be up here,” she said in her remarks. “I should be back in school, on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you!”
Thunberg and a dozen other activists also lodged a complaint with the U.N. that accused France and four other countries of failing to adequately address the issue, a move that drew scorn from French President Emmanuel Macron.
Speaking at the time with Europe 1, Macron branded the complaint as “very radical” and warned it would likely “antagonize societies.”
“All the movements of our youth — or our not-so-young — are helpful,” explained the globalist leader. “But they must now focus on those who are furthest away, those who are seeking to block the way.”
Thunberg is the youngest person ever to be named the magazine’s “Person of the Year.”
TIME selected “The Guardians and the War on Truth” — a group of imprisoned and killed journalists — as its “Person of the Year” in 2018.
Story cited here.
