The Center for American Rights (CAR) has filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) against the WNBC, NBC's flagship station, alleging a willful violation of the equal time rule over the broadcaster featuring Vice President Kamala Harris on "Saturday Night Live" on Nov. 2, just days before the presidential election.
"Broadcasters cannot abuse their licenses by airing what amounts to a free commercial promoting one candidate the weekend before the presidential election. That's not news; it's election interference, and it's illegal," said Daniel Suhr, President of the Center for American Rights.
"With this complaint, we are demanding that the FCC enforce long-standing federal law by fining NBC for its willful violation of these basic principles of broadcasting."
FCC commissioner Brendan Carr said on X that Harris' appearance on "SNL" Saturday alongside her on-screen doppelgänger, Maya Rudolph, was a "clear and blatant effort to evade" the rule that's designed to "avoid exactly this type of biased and partisan conduct."
NBC's decision to later broadcast two Trump ads for free is too little, too late, according to the complaint — it fails the FCC's standard for a "comparable" appearance and does not comply with the procedural protections in law to prevent last-minute election interference.
CAR is seeking a significant fine against NBC to deter future violations.