Republican member of FCC claims Harris' 'Saturday Night Live' appearance could violate equal time rules

A Republican member of the Federal Communications Commission voiced concerns that Vice President Kamala Harris’ appearance on “Saturday Night Live” this weekend may have violated a rule that requires networks to provide equal airtime to both candidates.

“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 influence for one candidate on the eve of an election,” Brendan Carr, an FCC member appointed by former President Donald Trump, wrote on social media Saturday.

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

Carr called it a “clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC’s Equal Time rule.”

Trump was not offered time from “Saturday Night Live” or NBC, the network that airs the popular late-night comedy sketch show, the Trump campaign told Politico.

Trump appeared as a candidate on the show in 2015, Politico reported.

According to The Hill, “Saturday Night Live” executive producer Lorne Michaels said in a prior interview that neither candidate would appear on the show during the run-up to November’s presidential election.

“You can’t bring the actual people who are running on because of election laws and the equal time provisions,” he said.

The Hill reported an FCC spokesperson said the agency “has not made any determination regarding (political) programming rules, nor have we received a complaint from any interested parties.”

Harris on Saturday appeared in a sketch with comedian Maya Rudolph, who plays Harris on “Saturday Night Live.”

“It is nice to see you, Kamala,” Harris says to Rudolph through a mirror in the skit. “And I’m just here to remind you, you got this, because you can do something your opponent can’t do — you can open doors.”

Harris’ joke seems to reference a clip that has circled on social media of Trump struggling to open a door to get into a garbage truck.

Vanity Fair reported that similar equal time concerns were raised with “Saturday Night Live” after a Nov. 1, 2008, appearance from then-Republican presidential candidate John McCain. That episode spurred questions about whether Democratic candidate Barack Obama should have demanded equal screen time.

The equal time rules in question require “any licensee of a broadcast station who permits any person who is a legally qualified candidate for any public office to use a broadcasting station to afford equal opportunities to all other such candidates for that office in the use of such broadcasting station,” Vanity Fair reported.

According to FCC guidelines, the equal opportunities rule “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 rule includes an exception for “bona fide news” and doesn’t apply to cable channels or web-based video and audio, such as streamed videos, podcasts and social media.