ADVERTISEMENT

'Why Isn't the Vice President Engaging': Dem Megadonor and Time Magazine Owner Marc Benioff Calls Out Harris for Avoiding Interviews

Billionaire Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce and owner of Time magazine (Getty Images)
October 14, 2024

Billionaire Marc Benioff, a prominent Democratic donor and the owner of Time magazine, took aim at Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris for repeatedly dodging media appearances.

"Despite multiple requests, TIME has not been granted an interview with Kamala Harris—unlike every other Presidential candidate," Benioff said Sunday on X. "We believe in transparency and publish each interview in full. Why isn’t the Vice President engaging with the public on the same level?"

Benioff has contributed millions of dollars to Democratic causes over the years, including nearly $1.3 million to Democratic campaigns since 2011 and $1 million in 2018 to promote stricter gun control laws. Benioff also helped raise around $500,000 for former president Barack Obama’s reelection campaign.

Benioff, in another X post Sunday, highlighted a portion of a recent Time feature story on Harris which noted that the Democratic candidate "declined repeated requests for an interview for this story."

"In contrast, Trump talked about his policy vision with a TIME reporter for 90 minutes across two interviews," the article continued. "Biden spoke to TIME at similar length before dropping out of the race."

Benioff’s criticism comes as the Harris-Walz ticket faces intense public scrutiny over its lack of interviews and press conferences compared to the Trump-Vance campaign, with Axios reporting last month that the Democratic duo was on track to make history with the fewest media appearances of any modern U.S. presidential ticket.

While Harris participated in several friendly interviews last week on left-leaning platforms such as The View and Stephen Colbert’s Late Show, the media blitz did little to define her campaign and distinguish Harris from President Joe Biden. Harris has sought to distance herself from the Biden-Harris administration’s dismal policy record, touting her campaign as a "new way forward."

When asked last week on The View, however, whether she would have done anything differently from Biden, Harris said, "There is not a thing that comes to mind."