NBC gave Trump airtime after Harris’ SNL performance

Left: Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris appears on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” with Maya Rudolph on Saturday, November 2, 2024, in New York City. Harris made an unannounced trip to New York to briefly step away from battleground states just three days before the election (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin). Right: Donald Trump in a political ad aired on NBC on November 3, 2024 (X/Donald J. Trump).

After the Federal Communications Commission commissioner accused NBC of violating the agency’s “equal time” rule allowing Kamala Harris appear on Saturday Night Live, the network gave Donald Trump about 120 seconds of free airtime after NASCAR races and NFL games.

Trump appeared in two 60-second videos after the race and after NBC’s Sunday Night Football. He also advertised on his X account, formerly Twitter.

“We are two days away from the most important election in the history of our country,” Trump said. “We have to save our country and it needs to be saved, it’s in a very bad state.”

pic.twitter.com/n9O9bZbQur

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2024

Also on Sunday, NBC filed an equal time notice with the FCC, claiming that Harris appeared for approximately 1 minute and 30 seconds on SNL during her skit with comedian Maya Rudolph as part of the show’s cold open just days earlier. Presidential elections on Tuesday.

A Trump spokesman told NPR’s David Folkenflik that NBC and Comcast reached out Sunday to offer the time, and the Republican nominee filmed a video after the rally.

NBC statement on SNL scandals:

We have complied with the Trump Campaign’s request for equal time, consistent with our regulatory obligations.

(Background: Trump commercials have appeared on Nascar broadcasts and NFL post-game broadcasts.)

— David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) November 4, 2024

NBC told Folkenflik it complied with the rule by giving Trump airtime on Sunday.

Like law and crime previously reportedThis was stated by Senior Republican Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission Brendan Carr in his speech. series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) that NBC violated the agency’s Equal Time Rule.

“This is a clear and blatant attempt to circumvent the FCC Equal Time Rule,” Carr wrote. “The purpose of this rule is to avoid precisely this type of partisan and partisan behavior—the use of the public airwaves by a licensed broadcaster to influence one candidate in the run-up to an election. Unless the broadcaster offers equal time to other qualifying campaigns.”

Carr was first nominated Trump and then President Biden again. He is one of five members of the commission, including the chairman.

Generally speaking, the equal time rule requires broadcasters to give the same amount of airtime to one candidate as to the other. If one candidate appears on a broadcast channel, it must provide an opportunity for the other candidate(s) to appear during the same time period. News broadcasts, political advertising and documentaries are exempt from this rule. The FCC chairman during the 2016 election said the agency would enforce the rule, Carr said. Stations filed equal opportunity notices when Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton appeared on the show, Carr said.

“Federal law requires broadcasters to provide comparable time and slots to all legally qualified applicants when the equal time rule is triggered,” Carr wrote. “In the days leading up to the election, NBC appears to have structured this appearance to circumvent these requirements. What comparable time and location can they offer to all other qualified candidates?”

News of Harris’ appearance broke Saturday night, just hours before the show. Her part of the skit lasted about two and a half minutes and ended with her and Rudolph shouting the famous catchphrase “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night” together. Carr noted that SNL creator Lorne Michaels said Hollywood Reporter that he didn’t expect Trump or Harris to appear on the show.

“You can’t bring in actual people who are running because of election laws and equal time provisions,” Michaels said. “You can’t have major candidates without having all the candidates, and there are a lot of minor candidates that are only on the ballot in about three states, and it gets really complicated.”

The equal time rule comes up from time to time, especially with celebrities or TV personalities. Some TV channels have filmed Mehmet Oz’s film “Dr. Oz” against the backdrop of his final unsuccessful attempt to run for US Senate in Pennsylvania in 2022.

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