US President-elect Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris have been chosen as Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 2020. “The Biden-Harris ticket represents something historic,” Time tweeted.

The Democratic pair beat three other finalists: frontline healthcare workers and Dr Anthony Fauci, the racial justice movement, and President Donald Trump, who lost the White House race.

Time has been choosing the year’s most influential person since 1927.

“For changing the American story, for showing that the forces of empathy are greater than the furies of division, for sharing a vision of healing in a grieving world, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are TIME’s 2020 Person of the Year,”

Mr Biden and Ms Harris, who was not mentioned on Time’s initial shortlist, are yet to publicly comment on the announcement.

In 2016, Mr Trump, then also president-elect, received the same recognition from the magazine.

Every year, Time chooses a person, a group, an idea or an object that “for better or for worse” has had the most impact on the events over the 12 months.

In 2019, the publication expanded Person of the Year to include such categories as a Businessperson of the Year, Entertainer of the Year, Athlete of the Year and the Guardians of the Year.