FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr claimed that Kamala Harris‘ cameo on Saturday Night Live was a “clear and blatant effort” by the show to evade the FCC’s Equal Time Rule.
Carr wrote on X, “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.”
The rule requires that broadcasters who provide airtime to a candidate also offer comparable time to opposing candidates.
According to the FCC, 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.” A station also is not required to seek out opposing candidates and offer them equal opportunities. In other words, time has to be requested.
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A spokesperson for Donald Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request as to whether his campaign has or will make a request. NBC has made no statement, but a source said that the network will comply with any regulatory obligations.
There is a substantial news exemption to the equal time rules, one that has included late night talk shows. But Saturday Night Live has not been exempt, and when Donald Trump hosted in 2015, the network gave time to some of his Republican primary rivals in markets with upcoming primaries.
In his X post, Carr argued that the show was trying to evade the requirements by having Harris on so close to the election. “Federal law requires that broadcasters provide comparable time and placement to all legally qualified candidates when the Equal Time rule is triggered,” he wrote. “With only days before the election, NBC appears to have structured this appearance in a way that evades these requirements. What comparable time and placement can they offer all other qualifying candidates?”
The show has featured candidates this close to the election in past cycles. In 2008, John McCain made a cameo just three days before the election.
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