Time Magazine recently announced Donald Trump as its 2024 Person of the Year. This is the second time he has received this honor; the first was in 2016. Unlike previous years, Time decided to fact-check Trump’s statements from his interview, marking a big change for the magazine.
This is the first time in almost 100 years that Time has done such a detailed fact-check for its Person of the Year. They looked carefully at 15 claims Trump made during the interview, wanting to make sure the information was correct.
Why did Time do this? They believe it’s important to check the facts in interviews with big public figures. Time had also fact-checked other leaders like Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu, but this is the first time they’ve done it for a Person of the Year.
During the interview, Time pointed out errors in Trump’s statements regarding border security, autism rates, and the size of his rally crowds. For example, Trump called his election victory a “massive” win, but Time reminded readers that former President Barack Obama had more electoral votes in his two elections.
Time also found that Trump said he was willing to talk to anyone who wanted an interview. However, they noted that he had turned down an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes during his campaign. Instead, he chose to speak more to podcasts than to traditional news outlets, which seemed inconsistent.
Additionally, Time questioned the claims Trump made about autism, saying they weren’t backed by science, and argued that he overstated the attendance numbers at his rallies.
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