Addressing a crowd gathered in Iowa Thursday, President-elect Donald Trump described himself as "lucky" for earning the title of Time's 2016 Person of the Year before criticizing the magazine for being "politically correct."
"I was lucky enough to receive the Time Person of the Year (title)," Trump said in Des Moines, during the third stop in his presidential victory tour. "They used to call it Man of the Year, but they can't do that anymore, so they call it 'person.' They want to be politically correct. That's OK."
Time launched its annual feature on a person of high influence – for better or worse – in 1928, declaring Charles Lindbergh the "Man of the Year."
>> Related: Time names Donald Trump 'Person of the Year'
Although the magazine sometimes spotlighted women, starting with Wallis Simpson in 1937, it remained the "Man of the Year" feature until 1999. According to Time, German Chancellor Angela Merkel last year became the fourth woman to hold the Person of the Year title on her own.
"To be on the cover of Time magazine as the Person of the Year is a tremendous honor," Trump said Wednesday on the "Today Show," before questioning the subtitle on the magazine's front page, which declared him president of the "divided states of America." He echoed his criticism at the Iowa rally.
"I said, 'I haven't been president. What are you saying that for?'" Trump said. "But you know what? We're going to bring the nation together."
Trump consistently slammed politically correct behavior and speech in the race to the White House.
"I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct," he said during a debate last year. "I've been challenged by so many people and I don't, frankly, have time for total political correctness. And to be honest with you, this country doesn't have time, either."
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