# 2020 Time Person of the Year: Is there any debate? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 7, 2020, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194 "2020-06-07T06:32:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194/21 "2020-06-08T08:27:09Z")
> [@Smudge777](#): > > The hypothetical person who first contracted SARS-CoV-2. I’d say they have had one of the most pronounced effects on the world in a long, long time. The first case is now considered to have been in 2019. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194/22 "2020-06-08T08:45:40Z")
As things stand, I think it’s going to be Pestilence, although Death, War and Famine are still in the running. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194/23 "2020-06-08T18:23:31Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > The first case is **now** considered to have been in 2019. Now? I’m pretty sure it always has been. Hence Covid- **19**. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194/24 "2020-06-08T18:31:24Z")
There’s a meme floating around on reddit that I can’t find right now that has a Time Man of the Year cover that is blacked out except for a silhouette of a door with Trump exiting. Caption is “Bye Don!”. At least he’ll finally have a real one that he can frame. I’m sure plenty of people will be willing to send it to him as a gift. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194/25 "2020-06-08T18:57:49Z")
> **[Li Wenliang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Wenliang)** > > Li Wenliang (Chinese: 李文亮; 12 October 1986 – 7 February 2020) was a Chinese ophthalmologist who warned his colleagues about early COVID-19 infections in Wuhan. On 30 December 2019, Wuhan CDC issued emergency warnings to local hospitals about a number of mysterious "pneumonia" cases discovered in the city in the previous week. On the same day, Li, who worked at the Central Hospital of Wuhan, received an internal diagnostic report of a suspected severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) patien Th... ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194/26 "2020-06-08T18:59:15Z")
I think the Man of the Year has to be the Cell Phone Camera. Without that video would the renewed BLM revolution have even happened? ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194/27 "2020-06-08T18:59:32Z")
I wonder if it could be the doctor who tried to blow the whistle about the virus, and then died from it. That encapsulates both COVID, and the issue of citizens struggling to do the right thing in opposition to a government that wants to maintain an unsustainable status quo. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194/28 "2020-06-08T19:00:37Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > [Li Wenliang - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Wenliang) Wow. That’s a weird ninja/simulpost. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194/29 "2020-06-08T20:18:25Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > I think the Man of the Year has to be the Cell Phone Camera. Without that video would the renewed BLM revolution have even happened? It’s still just a two week story at this point and not nearly as huge as COVID. Saturday could have been the peak of BLM. COVID has killed hundreds of thousands and plunged the world economy into a massive recession overnight. We’ve never seen this before. We will have racial flare ups in the future just like we have in the past ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194/30 "2020-06-09T15:18:37Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > At this point? Dr. Fauci. > > Otherwise, BLM as a whole, but the The Protester was named in 2011. I think George Floyd would be a strange choice because he did not choose his role. > > Other candidates: > Person(s) who discover a cure/vaccine for Coronavirus. > Someone we don’t even know about, because it’s been that kind of year. ☹ Jamal Khashoggi didn’t volunteer either, but they picked him in 2019. For 2020, it will likely be something related to COVID 19 - Dr. Fauci, the Frontline worker, or the virus itself ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194/31 "2020-06-09T16:54:56Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This makes the most sense to me. > > But I’d love it if were Dr. Fauci just to see the top of trump’s head fly off and his thumbs catch on fire. 🙂 I hope not. Only because if Fauci gets the award and Trump is tweeting about it, that likely means that he won the election. If Trump loses tweeting about Fauci being person of the year would likely be way down at the bottom of his list of things to tweet about. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194/32 "2020-06-09T18:46:26Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I hope not. Only because if Fauci gets the award and Trump is tweeting about it, that likely means that he won the election. If Trump loses tweeting about Fauci being person of the year would likely be way down at the bottom of his list of things to tweet about. Not that that would stop him from tweeting about it anyway. The man carries grievances like you or I carry the shirts on our backs. Yeah, he’d be tweeting about it. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194/33 "2020-06-09T18:55:29Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I hope not. Only because if Fauci gets the award and Trump is tweeting about it, that likely means that he won the election. If Trump loses tweeting about Fauci being person of the year would likely be way down at the bottom of his list of things to tweet about. Interesting… so you think trump will stop tweeting if he loses? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194/34 "2020-06-09T19:01:12Z")
If a Trump tweets when not President, will anybody be listening? ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194/35 "2020-06-09T19:14:53Z")
Definitely not George Floyd. He didn’t DO anything. It is the reaction to the things done to him that may be changing things in the US. So maybe the BLM protestors, but my money so far is on Fauci. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194/36 "2020-06-09T20:20:48Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > If a Trump tweets when not President, will anybody be listening? His disciples listened before. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194/37 "2020-06-10T00:06:00Z")
[There is already a thread for this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=896812) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194/38 "2020-06-10T12:27:54Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > [There is already a thread for this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=896812) Yeah, but I can’t decide whether to throw a shoe at it, or just shoo it away. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194/39 "2020-06-10T12:47:19Z")
LAst year it was Greta and boy did the right whingers have a fit!I remember trump cult friends were seething with rage that the weird little girl with a mysterious backstory was chosen. After I set them on the path to the truth they continued to sputter about how magazines kill trees and Greta was a hypocrite then I had to let them know about recycled paper content and digital editions and that publishing is not the worst environmental offender on earth but then they shouted someone else was more worthy than her. smh. Yet I still ponder the significance ofa Time of the Year Person, who reads Time anymore anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194/40 "2020-06-11T15:28:55Z")
My vote: The Next Terrible Thing. Every month it’s just been one bad thing after another, so the person of the year is whatever godawful thing is happening next [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-time-person-of-the-year-is-there-any-debate/855194.md?page=3)