Broadcaster NBC has granted the campaign of President Donald J. Trump a 90-second ad spot amig allegations the surprise appearance of Kamala Harris on Saturday Night Live (SNL) violated FCC rules. Harris’s brief appearance on SNL was for one minute and 30 seconds, allowing other presidential campaigns to request equal airtime—about 90 seconds—per FCC regulations.
Harris’s SNL sketch, featuring Maya Rudolph, concluded with both discussing the vice president’s campaign. The sketch, however, was criticized by FCC commissioner Brendan Carr, who stated before the show aired, “This is a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC’s Equal Time rule.”
Carr also noted that SNL creator Lorne Michaels had previously stated in an interview last month that the show would not feature Harris or Trump because of the equal time rules.
Trump’s ad, meanwhile, appeared during Sunday’s NASCAR playoff broadcast. In it, Trump wore a red “Make America Great Again” cap and warned that electing Harris could lead to a “depression.” The ad urges viewers to vote.
Additionally, Trump received 60 extra seconds of airtime during NBC’s Sunday Night Football post-game coverage. The same ad from the NASCAR event aired after the game, closely following a paid campaign advertisement.
NBC allowed Donald Trump to air a 90 second advertisement tonight during Sunday Night Football and NASCAR per FCC regulations in order to provide equal time to what Kamala Harris received on Saturday Night Live
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) November 4, 2024
