NBC Grants Trump Airtime After Kamala Harris 'SNL' Backlash
Following accusations that NBC might be violating federal law by featuring Vice President Kamala Harris on “Saturday Night Live,” the network permitted former President Donald Trump to air an ad on Sunday night.
In a campaign characterized by what Michael Goodwin of the New York Post referred to as “rampant media misconduct,” Trump’s ad aired during a NASCAR race, and a source indicated it may have also played during an NFL postgame show. This move was seen as NBC’s attempt to comply with the Equal Time rule, according to The Hill.
The Hill cited an unnamed source, noting it remains unclear whether NBC offered the airtime to Trump or if his campaign sought it out.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) member Brendan Carr, the panel's senior Republican, had previously criticized NBC’s actions, Fox News reported.
“This appears to be a case of some NBC leadership at ‘SNL’ actively supporting one candidate ahead of the election. That’s precisely why we’ve had an equal time rule for decades, to prevent such behavior,” Carr stated.
Carr emphasized that broadcasters “are placed in a special position of trust.” He added, “They hold a federal license obliging them to operate in the public interest, unlike anyone else with a platform.”
Carr also noted that even when NBC filed a notice under the Equal Time rule, this instance was highly unusual, according to Fox News.
Typically, the filing “would trigger a seven-day window in which other qualified candidates could request Equal Time from NBC—meaning similar time on a comparable program. But here, opposing candidates didn’t have the standard seven days,” Carr explained to Fox News.
In the pre-recorded ad, Trump took a serious tone.
“We’re losing everything, including viability,” Trump said in the ad posted on X.
He warned, “We’re on track for a depression based on current trends. We haven’t seen anything like this in at least four decades.”
Goodwin observed that this incident marked a new low in media conduct, noting the campaign season’s end.
“The media has reached a whole new level of flagrant misconduct,” he wrote. “I have never seen anything like it — nor has anyone else. History is being made, and not in a good way.”
Goodwin further commented, “As Tuesday’s vote looms, fearing a loss for Harris, many major outlets have discarded any semblance of professionalism or fairness, resorting to distorted or fabricated ‘gotcha’ moments against Trump.”