Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris has refused numerous interviews leading up to Election Day and is now denying one to an outlet owned by a former Dem presidential contender.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that Harris’s campaign rejected an interview proposal from Bloomberg News, Time Magazine, and CNBC.
The company was founded by former Democratic presidential candidate and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who ran in 2020 before dropping out and endorsing Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday afternoon, Donald Trump participated in a town hall with John Micklethwait, Bloomberg Editor-In-Chief, at the Economic Club of Chicago. He spoke about Vladimir Putin, his tariff plans, and transgender athletes, among other topics.
The former mayor may have angered the Harris-Walz campaign by not immediately offering his full endorsement after President Biden dropped out this summer. He has still not endorsed Harris.
“Democrats now have a chance for a fresh new start,” wrote Bloomberg on X shortly after Biden withdrew from the race in July.
“We don’t need to get a resolution right away, but we do need to get it right,” said Bloomberg. “The decision is too important to rush because the election is too important to lose.”
News of Harris’s refusal came during a CNN segment in which host Boris Sanchez questioned Ian Sams, the spokesman for the Harris-Walz campaign, about the vice president’s appearances.
The anchor started by highlighting Harris’s record, mentioning her absence at the Bloomberg event and her recent denials of CNBC and Time Magazine interviews.
“Now the Vice President was invited to appear with [CNBC] but declined; she also declined to be at that Bloomberg conversation,” said Sanchez.
“She also declined an interview with Time Magazine. Declining media hits really isn’t an indicator of mental fitness, is it?” Sanchez questioned the spokesman.
Previously, Sams posted on X that Donald Trump’s turning down a 60 Minutes interview and allegedly doing the same with CNBC could indicate his “mental acuity.”
Sams then claimed VP Harris isn’t afraid of combative interviews, pointing to her scheduled appearance on Fox News on Wednesday.
“She’s out there taking questions from really tough corners,” said Sams.
The vice president is also facing ire from Time’s owner after she refused to sit for an interview with the news magazine.
Time owner wrote of his disappointment on X
Owner Marc Benioff wrote of his disappointment with X and claimed Time Magazine has reached out several times for an interview with Harris.
“Despite multiple requests, Time has not been granted an interview with Kamala Harris — unlike every other presidential candidate,” posted the owner Sunday.
Benioff included a link to interviews conducted with President Biden when he was still running for reelection and former President Donald Trump in 2024.
“We believe in transparency and publish each interview in full,” added Benioff in the post. “Why isn’t the vice president engaging with the public on that same level?”
The October 10 Time article “What Kind of President Would Kamala Harris Be?” notes that 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,” they added in the article.
The vice president’s refusal to interview with Time has been denounced, as CBS News faces intense backlash for editing its 60 Minutes interview with the candidate to be more favorable for Harris.
Critics of the Harris campaign have questioned VP Harris’s media strategy before the election.
The vice president has engaged in questionable interviews, like with the sex-focused, raunchy podcast Call Her Daddy.
She has also snubbed more traditional interviews, such as with legacy television outlets or Time Magazine, to appear instead on radio shows like Charlamagne Tha God and Howard Stern.
However, VP Harris has agreed to a few traditional interviews, such as those with CNN and 60 Minutes. For the CNN interview, Harris was joined by her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
While refusing an interview with Time, Harris posed for a photoshoot with Vogue, which published its glowing profile of her on Friday. Time revealed a lengthy narrative of what life has been like for her since Joe Biden dropped out and she took over his campaign.
The vice president sat for an interview and posed for famed photographer Annie Leibovitz at the vice president’s residence on October 7.
The Vogue cover describes Harris as “the candidate for our times” and features her wearing $800 Tiffany earrings and a Gabriela Hearst suit.
