NBC News aired on Sunday night a short video of Donald Trump in what seemed to be an effort to provide him with "equal time" in its airwaves after an appearance by Kamala Harris on "Saturday Night Live."
The recorded video, in which Trump spoke directly into a camera during the NASCAR 2024 Cup playoff race, was aired after Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Brendan Carr said on X that Harris being on "SNL" was a "clear and blatant" effort to evade the body's Equal Time rule.
This is a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC's Equal Time rule.
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) November 3, 2024
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
Carr, a senior Republican on the commission who was appointed by Trump, called the appearance "biased and partisan" and suggested the broadcasted offer Equal Time to other qualifying campaigns.
Speaking to Fox News' Laura Ingraham later, Carr said that "every single option needs to be on the table for the FCC because we not only need to respond to this if it turns out to be as clear a violation as it looks like, but it sends a message to deter anybody from doing this again, whether it's to benefit a Republican or a Democrat."
The Trump campaign also criticized Harris for going on the show, saying in a statement she was "cosplaying with her elitist friends" as her campaign "spirals down the drain into obscurity."
Harris appeared on "SNL" when Maya Rudolph, who plays a comical version of the candidate on the show, was giving herself a pep talk three days from the election during the cold opn. After saying she wished she could speak with someone "who has been in my shoes, a Black, South Asian woman running for president, preferably from the Bay Area," the real Harris answered from the other side of the mirror. "It is nice to see you Kamala. I'm just here to remind you, you got this."
Harris quipped to Rudolph that they could "open doors," referring to Donald Trump's bumble-plagued garbage man stunt earlier in the week when he struggled to open the door of a garbage truck.
"Take my palm-ala," Rudolph said as she took Harris' hand. "The American people want to stop the chaos and end the dram-ala with a cool new step-mamala."
Harris asked: "What do we always say?" Both responded in unison: "Keep calm-ala and carry-on-ala.
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