Donald Trump handed NBC NASCAR airtime after Kamala Harris' “SNL” sketch

NBC reportedly gave presidential candidate Donald Trump free airtime after Kamala Harris' appearance Saturday Night Live this weekend.

The Democratic candidate appeared on the show for about 1 minute and 30 seconds this weekend – meaning that if another candidate wants to do so, they must be given the same amount of time under Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules. A Trump political ad ran Sunday night during NBC's NASCAR and NFL coverage of the Minnesota Vikings' game against the Indianapolis Colts.

During post-race coverage, Trump appeared in an ad of roughly the same length, speaking directly to the camera while donning a “Make America Great Again” baseball cap. Trump urged Americans to go to the polls just days before the Nov. 5 presidential election, saying America would “end in a depression” if Harris was elected this week.

Accordingly The Hollywood Reporter“A source familiar with the matter” said the ad was shown to give him the same coverage under FCC guidelines, which state: “FCC rules are designed to ensure that no legally qualified candidate for office is unfairly granted less access to the airwaves – outdoors.” from bona fide news exceptions – than her opponent.

“Equal opportunity generally means offering opposing candidates comparable time and placement; “It is not necessary for a station to offer opposing candidates programs identical to those of the initiating candidate,” the rules say. A broadcaster is also not obliged to “identify opposing legally qualified candidates and offer them equal opportunities”.

Newsweek contacted Trump's campaign team and NBC via email outside of regular working hours for clarification.

Brendan Carr, a senior Republican on the FCC, canceled Harris' appearance on SNLin which she, along with comedian Maya Rudolph, portrayed her during the cold opening, NBC said that NBC had made a “blatant attempt to circumvent the FCC's equal time rule.”

“The purpose of the rule is to prevent exactly this type of biased and partisan behavior – a licensed broadcaster using the public airwaves to exert influence on a candidate's behalf on the eve of an election,” Carr said on X, formerly Twitter. “Unless the station has offered equal time to other qualifying campaigns.”

He said the decision to have Harris appear on the show violated the FCC's seven-day rule, which “allows qualified candidates one week to request their equal time from the network.” He said this is to help a candidate prepare relevant materials that they want to publish.

“It would take them some time. And the rule does not require candidates to choose between a quick answer or no answer at all,” he said.

Carr later posted on X a statement from NBC to the FCC that said Harris “appeared without charge.” SNL.

Lorne Michaels, the executive producer of SNLtold The Hollywood Reporter in September of that year that none of the contestants would appear on the show at the same time due to FCC rules.

“Because of election laws and equal opportunity regulations, you can't bring the actual candidates,” Michaels said. “You can’t have the major candidates without having all the candidates, and there are a lot of minor candidates who are only on the ballot in about three states, and that gets really complicated.”