Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, Sunday accused NBC of evading the agency's "equal time" requirements by featuring Vice President Kamala Harris in her "Saturday Night Live" debut just days before the election.
"This is a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC’s Equal Time rule," Carr posted on X.
"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."
The FCC's requirements mandate that opposing candidates are allowed the same air time and said that NBC "structured this appearance in a way that evades these requirements."
Harris appeared in the show's cold opener, where she was shown face-to-face with impersonator Maya Rudolph as if the two were speaking with each other in a mirror.
The appearance also brought fire from viewers who accused her of stealing from a skit from 2015, when GOP nominee Donald Trump appeared in a similar mirror skit on The Tonight Show, where he was face-to-face with Jimmy Fallon, reported The New York Post.
"Kamala on SNL can’t even be ORIGINAL … had to plagiarize Trump and his much funnier skit. She’s soooo CRINGE," a watcher commented.
Viewers also pointed out Hillary Clinton's appearances on the program in 2008 and 2016, including a spot when comedienne Amy Poehler made fun of the former first lady's laugh.
In her skit, Clinton asked "Do I really laugh like that?" which was repeated Saturday night with Harris.
Some watchers suggested that Harris was tempting fate by appearing on the program, as Clinton lost her bid for the party nomination to Barack Obama after her appearance.
The Trump campaign also slammed her decision to appear on the show.
"Kamala Harris has nothing substantive to offer the American people, so that’s why she’s living out her warped fantasy cosplaying with her elitist friends on 'Saturday Night' leftists as her campaign spirals down the drain into obscurity," campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told Fox News.
"For the last four years, Kamala’s destructive policies have led to untold misery and hurt for all Americans. She broke it, and President Trump will fix it."
Harris spoke in campaign rallies in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Atlanta Saturday before heading to New York for the spot on "Saturday Night Live."
After the appearance, the vice president left for Detroit, with stops planned in Michigan on Sunday in Detroit, Pontiac, and East Lansing.
Trump, meanwhile, is delivering remarks in three East Coast battleground states Sunday, with appearances in Lititz, Pennsylvania; Kinston, North Carolina; and Macon, Georgia.