FCC responds to claim “Saturday Night Live” tried to 'evade' Equal Time rule with Kamala Harris appearance
Republican FCC commissioner Brendon Carr, a Trump appointee, claimed NBC used "public airwaves to exert its influence for one candidate on the eve of an election."
Kamala Harris' appearance on Saturday Night Live is drawing criticism from a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission.
Brendan Carr, the FCC's senior Republican and an appointee of former president and current candidate Donald Trump, wrote in a tweet that the Veep's cameo was "a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC's Equal Time rule."
The FCC, however, has not "received a complaint from any interested parties," Jonathan S. Uriarte, the commission's director of strategic communications/policy advisor, wrote in a statement to Entertainment Weekly.
SNL/Youtube
Kamala Harris on 'Saturday Night Live'Carr continued: "The purpose of the rule is to avoid exactly this type of biased and partisan conduct — a licensed broadcaster using the public airwaves to exert its influence for one candidate on the eve of an election. Unless the broadcaster offered Equal Time to other qualifying campaigns."
This is a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC's Equal Time rule.
The purpose of the rule is to avoid exactly this type of biased and partisan conduct - a licensed broadcaster using the public airwaves to exert its influence for one candidate on the eve of an election.… https://t.co/LliZF0po9t— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) November 3, 2024
According to the Equal Time rule, "FCC rules seek to ensure that no legally qualified candidate for office is unfairly given less access to the airwaves — outside of bona fide news exemptions — than their opponent. Equal opportunities generally means providing comparable time and placement to opposing candidates; it does not require a station to provide opposing candidates with programs identical to the initiating candidate."
The FCC's Uriarte wrote that Carr's comments "do not represent those of the agency," adding, "The FCC has not made any determination regarding politically programming rules, nor have we received a complaint from any interested parties."
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In a follow-up tweet to his initial claim, Carr wrote that SNL structured Harris' appearance "just hours before an election" in a way that denied "all other candidates their one week procedural right" to "request their Equal Time from the broadcast station."
NBC declined to make a statement, and indicated that it will comply with any regulatory obligations. Also, in response to Harris' 90 seconds on Saturday Night Live, the network has offered Trump a 90-second ad at the tail end of Sunday's NASCAR coverage, in which he claimed electing Harris as president would cause a "depression." He also urged viewers to "go and vote."
SNL has often had political candidates from across the political spectrum over its 50 years on air, including the widely criticized 2015 appearance of then-presidential candidate Trump as a host. Trump's hosting gig faced protests, particularly among Latino groups after the Republican candidate made comments calling Mexican immigrants criminals and "rapists." Trump was invited to appear on the show again after his presidency, but he declined, according to his later impersonator Alec Baldwin. NBC ended up giving time to some of Trump's Republican primary rivals in markets with upcoming primaries.
Other major presidential hopefuls who have made appearances on the show in the recent past include Barack Obama on Nov. 3, 2007; Hillary Clinton on March 1, 2008, and Oct. 3, 2015; and John McCain on May 17, 2008, and Nov. 1, 2008, after previously hosting in 2002.
During the 2024 Democratic nominee's cameo, Harris played the mirror reflection to Maya Rudolph's impression of her, as they offered each other a pep talk in the lead-up to Election Day: "The American people want to stop the chaos and end the drama-la, with a cool new stepmom-ala, get back in our pajama-las and watch a rom-com-ala, like Legally Blonde-ala, and start decorating for Christmas, fa-la-la-lala. Because what do we always say? Keep calm-ala and carry on-ala."
UPDATE: This post has been updated with news that NBC provided airtime for Trump during NASCAR.
