A Federal Communications Commission (FCC) official is calling out both NBC and Vice President Kamala Harris for her last-minute appearance on Saturday Night Live, saying it was a “clear and blatant” to evade rules designed to stop networks from tilting the political scales ahead of an election.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said the appearance on the network’s flagship sketch comedy show was a “clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC’s Equal Time rule.”
Carr made his point in a post on X, noting that the timing and Harris’ appearance — not announced until the day it was happening and took place just three days prior to the November 5 general election — effectively eliminated any possibility for her competitor, former President Donald Trump, to receive the federally-mandated “equal time.”
“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. Unless the broadcaster offered Equal Time to other qualifying campaigns,” Carr pointed out.
He went on to note that the issue had arisen in 2016 when Trump appeared on the same show, and that former President Barack Obama’s FCC chair had stated that the “Equal Time” provision would be enforced.
“In the 2016 cycle, President Obama’s FCC Chair made clear that the agency would enforce the Equal Time rule when candidate Trump went on SNL. NBC stations publicly filed Equal Opportunity notices to ensure that all other qualifying candidates could obtain Equal Time if they sought it. Stations did the same thing when Clinton appeared on SNL,” he explained.
Carr then explained that, with only three days — and zero “SNL” broadcasts remaining — before the election, NBC had “effectively structured” Harris’ appearance to make it impossible for the network to offer Trump anything even remotely comparable.
“What comparable time and placement can they offer all other qualifying candidates?” he asked.
Just weeks ago, SNL’s Lorne Michaels said that they *would not* be bringing any of the candidates on due to election and equal time laws:
“‘You can’t bring the actual people who are running on because of election laws and the equal time provisions,’ Michaels said.” pic.twitter.com/xtfnNFXdfr
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) November 3, 2024
In fact, just weeks earlier, “SNL” producer Lorne Michaels announced that he had no intention of putting either Harris or Trump on the show — and he cited the FCC’s “equal time” provisions as the reason behind that decision.
“You can’t bring the actual people who are running on because of election laws and the equal time provisions. You can’t have the main candidates without having all the candidates, and there are lots of minor candidates that are only on the ballot in, like, three states and that becomes really complicated,” Michaels told The Hollywood Reporter in mid-September.
According to Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, NBC did not reach out to the Trump campaign to offer a similar appearance prior to Saturday’s show.
Trump campaign senior advisor tells FOX that SNL did not extend an invitation to President Trump
Also worth noting that SNL’s executive producer said last month he had no plans to invite either candidate, because of this very law:
“You can’t have the main candidates without… https://t.co/C0GsYlAYjG
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) November 3, 2024
