Opinion: Harris' 'SNL' appearance likely violated FCC rules. There's nothing funny about it.
Will Rogers said, “Everything is funny as long as it's happening to somebody else.”
Kamala Harris' presidential campaign can attest to the truism after the vice president appeared on "Saturday Night Live" three days before the presidential election.
Make no mistake, there is nothing funny about an apparent violation of federal law by NBC and "SNL."
With Harris and Trump locked in a close race, the appearance was a bonanza for the campaign. It also was presumptively unlawful.
Lorne Michaels said candidates wouldn't appear on SNL
A month ago, The Hollywood Reporter quoted "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels saying it was implausible that either Trump or Harris would appear on the show given the clear federal rules: "You can’t bring the actual people who are running on because of election laws and the equal time provisions. You can’t have the main candidates without having all the candidates, and there are lots of minor candidates that are only on the ballot in, like, three states and that becomes really complicated."
The "SNL" cast and crew appeared to take the opposite meaning from Michaels' warning. They decided to broadcast a virtual campaign commercial for Harris and later ask for forgiveness rather than permission.
The skit was hardly subtle in jettisoning comedy for sycophancy. Former "SNL" cast member Maya Rudolph, impersonating Harris, said she wished she "could talk to someone who’s been in my shoes. You know, a Black, South Asian woman running for president. Preferably from the Bay Area."
Harris responded, "You and me both, sister."
"SNL" used a faux comedic skit to echo the Democratic presidential nominee's campaign themes. Harris assured her doppelgänger, "I'm just here to remind you, you got this. Because you can do something your opponent cannot do. You can open doors."
Rudolph even mouthed the campaign theme for Harris, declaring, "The American people want to stop the chaos and end the drama-la." Both then espoused their "belief in the promise of America."
Opinion:Yes, the stakes are high. But our democracy will survive this election.
NBC lawyers were clearly among the viewers who were not laughing Saturday night.
On Sunday, Trump was given a chance to speak on NBC after a NASCAR race.
FCC's rules try to ensure equal time for candidates
Since 1934, the Federal Communications Commission's equal-time rule has required radio and television broadcast stations to give competing political candidates the same amount of time.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, a Republican, denounced NBC's move as a premeditated and gross violation of the equal-time regulation. He said that the federal rules were designed for this very purpose, and that NBC discarded the rules to trawl for undecided voters for Harris, particularly young voters who have been a challenge for the vice president.
"NBC has structured this in a way that's plainly designed to evade the FCC's rules," Carr told Fox News on Sunday. "We're talking 50 hours before Election Day starts, without any notice to other candidates, as far as I can tell."
The Trump campaign has confirmed that an offer was not extended to appear.
"SNL" discarded any semblance of restraint and also featured Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who is in a race with Republican challenger Hung Cao.
"In the 2016 cycle, President Obama’s FCC Chair made clear that the agency would enforce the Equal Time rule when candidate Trump went on SNL,” Carr tweeted Saturday night.
So the producers of "SNL" were not only warned by its creator as the new season began but also were warned by the FCC in 2016. They decided to ignore the warnings.
On Sunday, NBC seemed to acknowledge the violation by filing an FCC notice under the equal-time provision acknowledging that it gave free exposure to Harris and Kaine − only days before voters went to the polls.
Opinion:He cast his ballot in Georgia, oxygen tank in tow. Voting is a duty, not a choice.
The true joke is on the public. With virtually all the news media supporting her, Harris has fielded a united front of celebrities from Hollywood to New York. By claiming that democracy is about to die, violations of FCC rules likely seem a trivial concern.
To save democracy, there is little time for legal niceties.
Indeed, some Democrats appear to be morphing into the very people they are vilifying. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., appeared on "Real Time with Bill Maher" on Friday to declare that Democrats will accept the result of a Trump victory only if they believe it is a “free and fair election.”
Trump was widely criticized for the same position when he said, “If everything’s honest, I will gladly accept the results.”
On Maher's show, Raskin said, "We're not going to allow them to steal it in the states, or steal it in the Department of Justice, or steal it with any other election official in the country."
Whether on "SNL" or "Real Time," it is always funnier if it happens to someone else.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”
