Shemaine Bushnell Kyriakides
It’s nothing new. Presidents and presidential candidates popping up on Saturday Night Live to win over voters. And if you tuned in the other night, you saw Vice President Kamala Harris make a surprise appearance (watch the skit below).
Harris joined SNL's opening sketch alongside comedian Maya Rudolph, who’s been hilariously impersonating her on the show. While the skit got a lot of laughs, it’s also sparking controversy, and not everyone is thrilled. Hours before it aired, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr suggested Harris’s appearance might be bending some rules about equal airtime.
This is a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC's Equal Time rule.
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) November 3, 2024
The purpose of the rule is to avoid exactly this type of biased and partisan conduct - a licensed broadcaster using the public airwaves to exert its influence for one candidate on the eve of an election.… https://t.co/LliZF0po9t
Here’s the issue: the FCC’s "Equal Time" rule says broadcasters have to give political candidates the same opportunity for on-air exposure. It’s meant to keep things fair. Carr, appointed to the FCC under President Trump, pointed out that NBC followed this rule when Trump and Hillary Clinton appeared on SNL in 2016. He hinted that Harris’s spot might be skirting around these guidelines.
But the FCC itself pushed back on Carr’s remarks, saying his concerns don’t reflect the agency’s official position. They told The Hollywood Reporter they haven’t taken a stance on Harris’s appearance and haven’t received any formal complaints so far.
With just days to go before Election Day, it’s unclear if this will blow over or lead to more discussion. For now, though, Harris’s SNL cameo has definitely stirred things up in the final stretch.
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