The U.S. government’s communications regulator has claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris’ surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live violated “equal time” rules governing political programming.
Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Brendan Carr claimed on social platform X that Harris’ appearance on the show was “a clear and blatant effort to circumvent the FCC’s Equal Time Rule.”
Kerr made the claim in response to an Associated Press alert that Harris was appearing on that night’s show.
“The purpose of this rule is to avoid exactly this type of biased and partisan behavior, where licensed broadcasters use public airwaves to influence one candidate on the eve of an election. unless the station gives equal time to other eligible campaigns,” said Carr, who was nominated by both Trump and Biden and was confirmed unanimously by the Senate three times. .
The FCC guidelines state: There is no requirement for broadcasters to offer opposing candidates the same programming as the starting candidates. ”
“The FCC has not made any decisions regarding rules for political programming and has not received any complaints from interested parties,” an FCC spokesperson said in a statement.
Harris opened the show with comedian Maya Rudolph, wearing an orange and yellow safety jacket, poking fun at the ongoing trash debate, and pretending to give a blow job to a broken microphone. He performed a skit that skewered his recent rally speech.
Harris began the “Mirror Image” sketch opposite Rudolph, the SNL cast member chosen to impersonate her.
“I’m here to remind you, you understand this, because you can do what the other person can’t do, you can open the door.” Harris told Rudolph, apparently referring to a video Trump took earlier in the week struggling to reach the handle of a garbage truck during a brief ride at a rally in Wisconsin.
This came after a comedian at a Trump rally in New York joked that Puerto Rico was a “floating island of trash,” which is widely considered racist. President Trump disavowed the comedian but did not apologize.
In a video call with Latino voters, President Biden appeared to call Trump supporters trash. The White House later denied his existence and released a transcript that changed the meaning by changing the word “supporter” to “supporter’s.” The White House stenographer appealed the falsification.
“The American people want the chaos to stop,” Rudolph said in the SNL sketch, while Harris added, “And we want the drama to end.”
“With your cool new step mom. Get back in your pajamas. And watch some romantic comedies,” Rudolph said, before the two emphasized their “belief in America’s promise.”
Lorne Michaels, executive producer of SNL, which is in its 50th season on NBC, told The Hollywood Reporter in September that neither Harris nor Trump himself would appear on the show.
“Because of election laws and equal time rules, we can’t bring in people who are actually running,” Michaels told the outlet.
“You can’t decide on a major candidate until you have all the candidates, and there are a lot of minor candidates who are only on the ballot in, say, three states, and that gets really complicated.”
Michaels said in an interview that it was easier to characterize Republicans than Democrats who were offended by a particular skit.
“It’s not personal in the sense of an attack. It’s just that you said that, and you did it, so you thought it would be rude for us to comment on it?” That’s me That’s what we’re doing and we’ll do it again,” he said.
The Trump campaign complained about Harris’ appearance, saying she has “nothing substantive to offer the American people. That’s why, as the campaign descends into obscurity, she’s joined by her elitist friends.” “He is living out a twisted fantasy while cosplaying on ‘Saturday Night Leftist,'” a spokesperson said. Steven Chan told FOX News Digital.
Some viewers pointed out that Harris’ “mirror image” comedy sketch was conceptually identical to one President Trump featured on Fallon’s The Tonight Show with former SNL comedian Jimmy Fallon in 2015. did. host Ari Hoffman said in an Instagram post linking to the Fallon vs. Trump skit.
