Left: Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris appears on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” with Maya Rudolph, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024 in New York. Harris has made an unannounced trip to New York to appear briefly stepping away from the battleground states she’s been campaigning in with just three days to go before the election (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin). Right: Donald Trump in a political ad that aired on NBC on Nov. 3, 2024 (X/Donald J. Trump).
After a Federal Communications Commission commissioner accused NBC of violating the agency’s “Equal Time” rule for allowing Kamala Harris to appear on Saturday Night Live, the network gave Donald Trump about 120 seconds worth of free airtime following a NASCAR race and NFL game.
Trump appeared in two 60-second videos after the race and following NBC’s Sunday Night Football. He also posted the ad to his account on X, formerly Twitter.
“We’re two days away from the most important election in the history of our country,” Trump said. “We’ve gotta save our country, and it needs saving, it’s in very bad shape.”
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https://t.co/czQRkZmr59 pic.twitter.com/n9O9bZbQur
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2024
Also on Sunday, NBC filed a equal time notice with the FCC, saying Harris appeared for roughly 1 minute and 30 seconds on SNL during her skit with comedian Maya Rudolph as part of the show’s cold open just days before Tuesday’s Presidential election.
A Trump spokesperson told NPR’s David Folkenflik that NBC and Comcast reached out on Sunday to offer the time and the Republican nominee filmed a video following a rally.
Statement from NBC about the SNL fracas:
We accommodated the Trump campaign’s request for equal time consistent with our regulatory obligations.
(Background: Trump spots appeared in Nascar and post-game NFL broadcasts.)
— David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) November 4, 2024
NBC told Folkenflik it complied with the rule by giving Trump the airtime Sunday.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Senior Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) that NBC violated the agency’s “Equal Time” rule.
