Vice president-elect Kamala Harris is on the list of politicians, celebrities and medical workers who have been nominated for Time’s Person of the Year for 2020.
Harris is joined by fellow nominees American politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, singer Ariana Grande, South Korean pop group BTS and basketball player LeBron James.
President-elect Joe Biden and President Donald Trump have also been nominated.
Black Lives Matter activists are also being considered, as well as Michaela Coel – who wrote and starred in TV drama I Will Destroy You, Pope Francis – who also won the award in 2013 – and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The magazine’s accolade has been awarded since the 1920s to an individual or group who has had “the greatest influence on the events of the year — for better or worse” on the country. It is voted for by its readers and the general public, with the opportunity to vote “yes” or “no” for each candidate.
Anthony Fauci – a top infectious diseases expert who has led on the US response to the Covid-19 outbreak – and the country’s essential workers are frontrunners for the award at the moment.
Both have secured 81 per cent yes votes, while Harris has garnered 68 per cent and Biden has secured 64 per cent.
Harris is the first Black woman, first Asian and first woman to be elected to office as vice president-elect.
Earlier this week, singer Paloma Faith shared her thoughts on Biden and Harris’s recent election success.
In an interview with the Press Association, Faith said she felt moved by the results and described it as a great moment for her young daughter.
“I feel really moved. For my daughter I feel like Kamala Harris is an unbelievable symbol of hope," Faith said.
“She has gone against all the odds being mixed heritage and a woman, against this awful tyrant,” she explained.
“It was the good news that we needed because it feels like 2020 has had not very much good news. It felt like a time of hope.”
