(The Hill) — A Federal Communications Commission (FCC) commissioner has claimed that Vice President Harris’s recent appearance on “Saturday Night Live” violates the “equal time” rule.
“This is a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC’s Equal Time rule,” Commissioner Brendan Carr posted on the social platform X Saturday in response to a post from The Associated Press about Harris being on the show that night.
“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, a Trump appointee, continued.
The FCC’s “equal time” rules let rival candidates ask for equal air time.
During her appearance on this week’s episode of “SNL” Harris joined comedian Maya Rudolph, who often impersonates her, for a cold open sketch. While Rudolph was playing the vice president, Harris began her “SNL” debut on the other side of a mirror from the comedian.
“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 told Rudolph, seemingly referring to a video from earlier in the week in which former President Trump had a hard time grabbing the handle of a garbage truck.
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Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, appears on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” with Maya Rudolph, left, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024 in New York. Harris has made an unannounced trip to New York to appear briefly stepping away from the battleground states she’s been campaigning in with just three days to go before the election. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) -
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, appears on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” with Maya Rudolph, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024 in New York. Harris has made an unannounced trip to New York to appear briefly stepping away from the battleground states she’s been campaigning in with just three days to go before the election. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) -
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris appears on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” with Maya Rudolph, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024 in New York. Harris has made an unannounced trip to New York to appear briefly stepping away from the battleground states she’s been campaigning in with just three days to go before the election. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) -
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, appears on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” with Maya Rudolph, left, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024 in New York. Harris has made an unannounced trip to New York to appear briefly stepping away from the battleground states she’s been campaigning in with just three days to go before the election. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) -
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris appears on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” with Maya Rudolph, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024 in New York. Harris has made an unannounced trip to New York to appear briefly stepping away from the battleground states she’s been campaigning in with just three days to go before the election. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
The executive producer of “SNL,” Lorne Michaels, had said in a past interview that neither Harris nor Trump would make appearances on his show during this election cycle.
“You can’t bring the actual people who are running on because of election laws and the equal time provisions,” he said to The Hollywood Reporter two months ago. “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.”
The Hill has reached out to NBC, the FCC and the Harris campaign for comment.