Billionaire Marc Benioff publicly called out Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday for refusing to do an interview with the magazine he owns, TIME, like the other major presidential candidates.
In posts to X, the CEO of Salesforce put Harris on blast two months after TIME published a cover story on the VP even though she declined an interview. Benioff also pointed out that former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden — before he dropped out — both sat down for interviews.
“Despite multiple requests, TIME has not been granted an interview with Kamala Harris — unlike every other Presidential candidate,” Benioff said in one post. “We believe in transparency and publish each interview in full. Why isn’t the Vice President engaging with the public on the same level?”
Despite multiple requests, TIME has not been granted an interview with Kamala Harris—unlike every other Presidential candidate. We believe in transparency and publish each interview in full. Why isn’t the Vice President engaging with the public on the same level? #TrustMatters…
— Marc Benioff (@Benioff) October 13, 2024
Benioff, who has donated to Democrats and Republicans in years past, also posted three hashtags — “#TrustMatters #TransparencyMatters #Leadership” — and shared links to the interviews TIME conducted with Trump and Biden.
With a follow-up post to X, Benioff shared a link to a new TIME article titled, “What Kind of President Would Kamala Harris Be?” and quoted a portion of the story.
The quote read: “Harris 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. Biden spoke to TIME at similar length before dropping out of the race.”
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who has endorsed Trump, responded to Benioff on X.
@KamalaHarris is the first presidential candidate in my lifetime that repeatedly declines to be interviewed for a story. @TIME magazine no less. That alone should tell you what you need to know about her. https://t.co/5v76X62Hn0
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) October 14, 2024
“[Harris] is the first presidential candidate in my lifetime that repeatedly declines to be interviewed for a story. [TIME] magazine no less. That alone should tell you what you need to know about her,” he said.
Bakari Sellers, a former Democratic state representative in South Carolina and CNN political analyst, took issue with Benioff’s assertion that Harris has not been “engaging with the public” like Trump.
Admire you, truly. Your last sentence is trash though. What is @60Minutes? What is wanting to have another debate? Or @Univision town hall? Or @CNN town hall?
Your last sentence, wrought with an objectively false opinion, does nothing for your cause. 🤷🏾♂️ https://t.co/Sx3EzciY4i
— Bakari Sellers (@Bakari_Sellers) October 14, 2024
“Admire you, truly. Your last sentence is trash though,” Sellers said, listing how Harris did an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” agreed to town halls with Univision and CNN,” and has pushed for another debate. “Your last sentence, wrought with an objectively false opinion, does nothing for your cause.”
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Trump actually pushed for multiple debates in September, but Harris refused to agree to a second one until the conclusion of their first face-off. Harris then proposed a debate in October, but Trump said it was too late with votes already being cast.
