NBC Airs Trump Message After FCC Commissioner Flags ‘Equal Time’ Concerns Over Harris SNL Appearance

Topline

NBC aired a message from former President Donald Trump during Sunday’s broadcast of a NASCAR race and an NFL game, after FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr criticized Vice President Kamala Harris’ appearance on “Saturday Night Live” and accused the network of trying to evade an FCC rule requiring broadcasters to give rival candidates equal air time if they want it.

Key Facts

According to the Hollywood Reporter, a video message from the former president aired right after the end of Sunday’s NASCAR playoff race, where Trump urged viewers to vote and warned that electing Harris would trigger a “depression.”

The same ad aired again at the end of the network’s broadcast of the NFL Sunday Night Football game, the report added.

The Trump campaign received a total of 120 seconds of free commercial time on the network—roughly similar to Harris’ SNL appearance.

On Sunday, NBC filed an “Equal Time” notice with the FCC saying the Democratic candidate for President “appeared without charge on NBC's Saturday Night Live…for a total period of…one minute and 30 seconds.”

NBC’s filing came after Carr accused the network of structuring Harris’ appearance in a way that evades federal law requiring broadcasters to offer, “comparable time and placement to all legally qualified candidates when the Equal Time rule is triggered.”

Carr—a Trump appointee and front runner to be the agency’s chair if the former president wins—said the SNL episode aired just “50 hours or so before election day”, which complicates the implementation of the rule, as it allows candidates seven days to “request their Equal Time from the broadcast station.”

What Did Trump Say In His Video Message On Nbc?

In the nearly minute long video message, Trump called the election “the most important election in the history of our country,” and claimed the country was in “very bad shape” and needed to be saved. The former president ended his message by attacking his opponent, saying “Kamala and her friends” broke the country and “I’ll fix it.”

Crucial Quote

The Trump campaign also criticized Harris’ appearance on SNL, saying the Democratic candidate: “has nothing substantive to offer the American people, so that’s why she’s living out her warped fantasy cosplaying with her elitist friends on Saturday Night Leftists as her campaign spirals down the drain into obscurity.”

Key Background

Carr first raised the “Equal Time” issue on Saturday after the Associated Press reported about Harris’ appearance on SNL. Under the FCC’s Equal Time rules, if a candidate appears on a broadcast radio or TV show, the station or network “will be required to entertain requests for Equal Opportunities by opposing legally qualified candidates for the same office.” The rule requires the broadcasters to provide “comparable time and placement to opposing candidates” if they request it. However, this does not mean the network has to “provide opposing candidates with programs identical to the initiating candidate.”

Tangent

NBC also filed an “Equal Time” notice with the FCC regarding Sen. Tim Kaine’s, D-Va., surprise appearance on SNL as he is running for reelection against Republican Hung Cao. Kaine, who was Hillary Clinton’s running mate in 2016, appeared in an SNL quiz show sketch where a contestant, played by John Mulaney, could not remember his name.

Further Reading

NBC Gives Donald Trump Campaign Time During NASCAR Race, ‘Sunday Night Football’ in Response to Kamala Harris’ ‘SNL’ Appearance (Hollywood Reporter)

Live From New York, It’s Kamala Harris on ‘SNL’ (New York Times)