Kamala Harris is criticized by TIME Magazine owner for refusing interview requests: "We value transparency"

On Sunday, Marc Benioff, the owner of TIME Magazine, criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for refusing to grant the magazine multiple interview requests, in contrast to President Biden and former President Trump, who were more transparent.

Last week, Benioff shared TIME's feature story on Harris, which was written by Charlotte Alter and highlighted how Harris declined interview requests in her lengthy piece about her potential presidency.

"Benioff wrote on X that despite multiple requests, Kamala Harris has not been granted an interview by TIME, unlike every other Presidential candidate. He believes in transparency and publishes each interview in full. Why isn't the Vice President engaging with the public on the same level?"

Benioff, who also owns Salon, shared links to the full transcripts of interviews TIME did with Trump and Biden in the spring. At the time, Biden was the presumptive nominee for the Democrats, before he dropped out of the race in July amid intense pressure from party leaders.

Although Alter's piece was generally supportive of Harris, he included a quote from an independent voter, Rodrigo Lopez, who questioned her shift to the left during the 2020 Democratic primary and her efforts to appeal to moderates in her 2024 campaign.

"Lopez has been unable to obtain a thorough accounting of Harris's policy evolution, as she has only spoken infrequently to reporters and mostly favors local media, culture podcasts, or friendly talk shows. Despite repeated requests for an interview, Harris has declined."

Trump and Biden had separate interviews with TIME earlier this year, where they discussed their perspectives and agendas.

The liberal magazine has been praised by other media analysts for its dramatic, anti-Trump covers for years.

In August, Alter wrote a positive article about Harris, but she didn't get an interview for it. She included quotes from a variety of aides, advisors, and supporters, including Pete Buttigieg, Bakari Sellers, and David Hogg.

"Despite being caught off guard, the past two weeks' energetic fighter matches the Harris that allies have known for years," Alter wrote.

Recently, Harris has increased her media presence, similar to Trump, by appearing in more sympathetic interview settings. On Tuesday, she spoke with Howard Stern, Stephen Colbert, and the co-hosts of "The View" in one day. Additionally, she recorded an appearance with liberal commentator Roland Martin, which was posted Monday morning.

In her TIME article last week, Alter characterized Harris as "more practical than ideological" based on interviews with advisers, aides, and policy experts.

"The Harris presidency can be seen as an upgrade to the current administration, with new features and improved packaging. While there are some tonal differences between the two, such as Harris's more open discussion of abortion rights and empathy for Palestinian civilians, overall, there is little policy daylight between the Democratic nominee and the president she replaced."

Planet Chronicle Digital did not receive an immediate response from Benioff and the Harris campaign.