MAGA Republicans demand equal time for Donald Trump after Kamala Harris resigned Saturday evening live over the weekend, even though the former president received the same amount of airtime within a day of her appearance.
Federal Communications Commissioner Brandon Carr, a Trump appointee, sounded the alarm Saturday about Harris’ surprise appearance after it was announced just hours before the show aired. In one after on X, Carr wrote that Harris’ cameo was “a clear and blatant attempt to circumvent the FCC’s Equal Time Rule.”
“The purpose of the rule is to avoid exactly this type of biased and partisan behavior – a licensed broadcaster using the public airwaves to exert its influence on one candidate on the eve of an election,” he wrote. ‘Unless the broadcaster offered Equal Time to other qualifying campaigns.’
When Trump hosted SNL in 2015, his actions triggered the Equal Time Rule, and NBC offered Trump’s opponents 12 minutes of free airtime on NBC affiliate stations.
Trump was offered the same deal after Harris’ performance. On Sunday afternoon, the Republican presidential candidate broadcast a short 60-second message after the end of a NASCAR race: according to to CNN. According to the FCC filing, Harris was given approximately 30 seconds “without charge.”
That certainly didn’t satisfy the complaint-fueled MAGA acolytes, who seem to think Trump is somehow entitled to a booking on SNL.
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida complained On Sunday, her appearance was part of a “large-scale attack” to “suppress and suppress Republican voices,” and that it was done “in violation of the law.”
‘I hope she continued laughing Saturday evening live“, in front of millions of people who heard her laugh for a few minutes, because that’s probably worth two to three million votes,” he sneered.
During an appearance Monday on Fox News Mornings with MariaCarr claimed that the FCC could consider “license revocation” as a possible remedy if they find Harris’ actions “egregious.”
“The whole point of this rule is to give people a fair chance,” Carr said saidwithout recognizing that Trump had already been given the same amount of time.
Elon Musk also fueled accusations on Sunday that Harris’ actions were illegal (it wasn’t), alongside claims that SNL had committed electioneering because it “did a skit *literally* aimed at increasing name recognition” of Virginia Senator Tim Kaine.
The post suggested that Kaine’s race against Republican candidate Hung Cao tightened afterward a single poll found that Kaine’s 9-14 point lead shrank to just two points. However, it is not illegal for a political candidate to appear on a television program.
