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.”
Minnesota ‘tried to cover up fraud allegations,’ former state trooper alleges
Bodycam shows dad bolt from cops with young child in his arms before ditching her alone in the woods
Trump DOJ report lays bare Biden administration’s alleged anti-Christian bias
WATCH: Chaos erupts as Florida Dem in pink jumpsuit grabs bullhorn mid-vote: ‘It’s illegal!’
Dem Rep Who Resigned in Disgrace Over Federal Charges Quietly Made Move to Run Again Before Quitting: Reports
David Allan Coe, Outlaw Country Legend Behind ‘Take This Job and Shove It,’ Dies at 86
Biden IRS discriminated against Christian groups, DOJ report finds
Federal appeals court refuses to rehear Trump appeal of $83M E Jean Carroll defamation judgment
Hunter Biden’s ex-lawyer ordered to pay $50K to former Trump aide after harassment claims crumble
Graham urges Trump to ‘ignore’ war powers deadline as GOP grapples with Iran
Cultural groups ask federal judge to halt Trump’s renovations of Kennedy Center
Georgia man says he suffered severe medical neglect leading to amputations at scrutinized Atlanta jail
LAPD chief warns Los Angeles not prepared to secure 2028 Olympics due to staffing shortages
House Republicans unlock reconciliation process to fund ICE and Border Patrol without Democrats
Small-town Virginia mayor reportedly arrested for allegedly showing up drunk to train derailment
.@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
Minnesota ‘tried to cover up fraud allegations,’ former state trooper alleges
Bodycam shows dad bolt from cops with young child in his arms before ditching her alone in the woods
Trump DOJ report lays bare Biden administration’s alleged anti-Christian bias
WATCH: Chaos erupts as Florida Dem in pink jumpsuit grabs bullhorn mid-vote: ‘It’s illegal!’
Dem Rep Who Resigned in Disgrace Over Federal Charges Quietly Made Move to Run Again Before Quitting: Reports
David Allan Coe, Outlaw Country Legend Behind ‘Take This Job and Shove It,’ Dies at 86
Biden IRS discriminated against Christian groups, DOJ report finds
Federal appeals court refuses to rehear Trump appeal of $83M E Jean Carroll defamation judgment
Hunter Biden’s ex-lawyer ordered to pay $50K to former Trump aide after harassment claims crumble
Graham urges Trump to ‘ignore’ war powers deadline as GOP grapples with Iran
Cultural groups ask federal judge to halt Trump’s renovations of Kennedy Center
Georgia man says he suffered severe medical neglect leading to amputations at scrutinized Atlanta jail
LAPD chief warns Los Angeles not prepared to secure 2028 Olympics due to staffing shortages
House Republicans unlock reconciliation process to fund ICE and Border Patrol without Democrats
Small-town Virginia mayor reportedly arrested for allegedly showing up drunk to train derailment
“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.
