(Maire Clayton, Headline USA) NBC was forced to give former President Donald Trump 90 seconds in free ad time after potentially violating federal law with Vice President Kamala Harris’s appearance on Saturday Night Live.
The decision was made after Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr blasted the late-night show for not following the “equal time rule,” which requires balanced airtime for each political candidate.
“With only days before the election, NBC appears to have structured this appearance in a way that evades these requirements,” Carr said. “What comparable time and placement can they offer all other qualifying candidates?”
Federal law requires that broadcasters provide comparable time and placement to all legally qualified candidates when the Equal Time rule is triggered.
With only days before the election, NBC appears to have structured this appearance in a way that evades these requirements.… pic.twitter.com/PjrgWCqsgy
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) November 3, 2024
NBC was therefore forced to run a Trump ad twice during its primetime programing.
X users expressed their delight as Trump ended up getting the better deal, according to Twitchy.
“SNL just made Kamala look stupid and Donald Trump got prime time!” one user wrote.
Donald Trump got the better deal. SNL just made Kamala look stupid and Donald Trump got prime time!
What a bargain and take that NBC how smart do you feel now?!
— DailyChronicals (@DailyChronicals) November 4, 2024
The user lampooned NBC’s error as Trump’s ad ran once after its NASCAR coverage and again after Sunday Night Football.
“What a bargain and take that NBC how smart do you feel now?!” the user continued.
During the ad, Trump spoke about how important the election is and how as Americans we need to save our country.
He highlighted the issues of border security, inflation and the extremely high tax rate.
“Kamala and her friends broke it,” Trump continued. “I’ll fix it.”
“Suck it, NBC!!” another user added as Trump had a serious message compared to Harris’s SNL appearance.
Ah, nice! Was wondering how Trump beamed onto my screen talking about Friday's awful jobs report. 🤣 Suck it, NBC!!
— Old Sport (@OldSport_X) November 4, 2024
Harris appeared in the “cold open” sketch alongside actress Maya Rudolph as she portrayed the vice president.
In the clip, Rudolph received a pep talk from her reflection, which happened to be Harris.
Kamala Harris talks to Kamala Harris pic.twitter.com/AJuW7aO7VM
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) November 3, 2024
The cringe inducing clip was met with a great deal of criticism as a version already aired in 2015—with comedian Jimmy Fallon and Trump, though the 2015 version was almost double the length of Harris’s appearance.
I would like to remind anyone on the left calling Kamala Harris and Maya Rudolph's mirror-themed opener on Saturday Night Live "brilliant" and "hilarious" that, once again, Donald Trump did it first.😱🤣
Here is the video from 2015 of Trump with Jimmy Fallon doing the opening… pic.twitter.com/C8lRmCDnMK
— 🇺🇲MAGADONIAN PokéMom🇺🇲 (@Pokemom2R) November 3, 2024
