Federal Communications Commission (FCC) commissioner Brendan Carr has called out Vice President Kamala Harris for supposedly violating the "equal time" rule with her and Maya Rudolph's recent SNL sketch.
Carr, appointed by Trump as the senior Republican on the commission, took to X to pen the following statement:
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"This is a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC’s Equal Time rule. 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. Unless the broadcaster offered Equal Time to other qualifying campaigns."
What is the Equal time rule?
The "equal time rule" asserts that rival candidates for the same office are entitled to the same treatment from all broadcasters. This includes getting comparable airtime, either paid or free.
The rule was enacted under the Communications Act of 1934 and prohibits broadcasters from censoring candidates' messages. It also mandates that all legally qualified candidates be allowed equal use of facilities.
The law was born from the Radio Act of 1927. It then evolved further to the Communications Act and was amended by Congress in 1959 to allow authentic news content, such as newscasts, interviews, and documentaries.
All about Kamala Harris and Maya Rudolph's SNL segment
On this week's episode of SNL, Kamala Harris appeared alongside Maya Rudolph to deliver a sketch. Rudolph, who has impersonated the Democratic Presidential nominee many times, once again embodied the vice president's role. That's when Harris spoke to her from the other side of a mirror.
In the one minute and thirty seconds video, which was reportedly made "without charge," Kamala Harris told Rudolph, as she ostensibly referred to a video of former president Trump struggling to open the door of a garbage truck just this week:
"I’m just here to remind you, you got this, because you can do something your opponent can’t do — you can open doors."
In the segment, the two reflect on their journey as “a Black, South Asian woman running for president" as they engage in a quippy back and forth. Rudolph, at one point, said to Kamala Harris:
"The American people want to stop the chaos. And end the drama-la.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the FCC has clarified that it has not made any determination regarding political programming rules and has not received a complaint from any interested parties.
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