Month: December 2024

TIME Magazine announced on Thursday that President-elect Donald Trump has been named TIME’s “2024 Person of the Year,” marking the second time Trump has earned the recognition from the publication (he previously won the honor after winning the presidential election in 2016).

In his letter to readers, Time Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs credited Trump with “marshalling a comeback of historic proportions” and “driving a once-in-a-generation political realignment” that has altered the United State’s role in the world.   TIME said that Trump had won the 2024 election “in a stunning political comeback” and “has reshaped the American electorate, activating young male voters who propelled him to a decisive victory that saw him win the popular vote for the first time and turn every swing state red.  His 2024 win is history-making in multiple ways: he will be the oldest President in U.S. history, and he was convicted earlier this year by a New York jury of 34 counts of fraud, making him the first convicted felon to be elected President.”

Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday to mark the honor alongside several of his family members. The TIME feature story includes an interview with Trump, joined by his wife Melania Trump and daughters Ivanka Trump and Tiffany Trump – as well Vice President-elect JD Vance and various Cabinet picks, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Pam Bondi and Scott Bessent. Trump said: “This is an honor, a tremendous honor. I brought some of our patriots along with us. They’re going to do a beautiful job for you for the next four years, and it’s really been something very special.”

In his interview with the magazine, Trump discussed immigration, abortion, the economy and his incoming administration. He vowed to looked “case-by-case” at the convictions of his supporters who rioted at the US Capitol in January 2021, having previously pledged to issue pardons: “Well, we’re going to look at each individual case, and we’re going to do it very quickly, and it’s going to start in the first hour that I get into office. And a vast majority of them should not be in jail. A vast majority should not be in jail, and they’ve suffered gravely.”

Editorial credit: Anna Moneymaker / Shutterstock.com

On Thursday, President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 individuals placed on home confinement, and pardoned 39 others convicted of non-violent crimes, with the White House stating that the moves represented the “largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history.”

Biden said in a statement: “America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances. As president, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses.” Biden ended his statement by promising that he “will take more steps in the weeks ahead. My administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions to advance equal justice under the law, promote public safety, support rehabilitation and re-entry and provide meaningful second chances.”

Biden said that the 1,500 people whose sentences were commuted were have served sentences at home for at least one year under the CARES Act, passed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and have “successfully reintegrated into their families and communities.” The 39 individuals pardoned were convicted of non-violent crimes and “have shown successful rehabilitation and have shown commitment to making their communities stronger and safer.”

The White House said Biden is the first president to issue “categorical pardons” for the people convicted of the use and possession of marijuana and to former LGBTQI+ service members convicted because of their sexual orientation. The White House statement said: “The President has issued more sentence commutations at this point in his presidency than any of his recent predecessors at the same point in their first terms. As the president has said, the United States is a nation of second chances. The president recognizes how the clemency power can advance equal justice under law and remedy harms caused by practices of the past.”

Editorial credit: Jonah Elkowitz / Shutterstock.com