NBC gives Donald Trump campaign time during a NASCAR race in response to Kamala Harris’ appearance on ‘SNL’

In response to Vice President Kamala Harris’ appearance on NBC, NBC is awarding free advertising time to former President Donald Trump’s campaign Saturday Night Liveincluding an unusual ad during Sunday’s NASCAR coverage, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Harris showed up on Saturday SNL for one minute and 30 seconds, meaning that if another presidential campaign requested it, NBC would have to give it about 90 seconds.

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NBC broadcast a NASCAR playoff race on Sunday, but some viewers noticed toward the end of the broadcast that Trump appeared in an unusual ad, speaking directly to the camera wearing a red baseball cap with the words “Make America Great Again” and claiming that Harris’ election would cause “depression”.

A source familiar with the matter said the spot during the NASCAR race was affiliated with NBC, giving the Trump campaign equal time. It’s unclear where else the Trump campaign would seek NBC time or how long it would last. It is also unclear whether any other campaigns required equal time.

Harris appeared SNL in the “cold open” sketch. alongside Maya Rudolph, who plays the vice president on the late-night comedy show. In the sketch, Rudolph’s Harris was looking for a pep talk from the real Harris, and the pair ended the segment with “Keep Kamala and keep going.”

However, he drew the sketch a rebuke from FCC Commissioner Brendan Carrseen as a potential FCC chairman if President Trump is re-elected. Carr wrote that the draft was a “clear and blatant attempt to circumvent the FCC’s equal-time rule” because it appeared just two days before Election Day, during the seven-day window in which the FCC sets campaign deadlines for equal-time demands.

Notably, the rule “does not require a station to provide opposing candidates with programming identical to the originating candidate” under FCC rules, but rather a comparable time and place.

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