NBC's "Saturday Night Live" (SNL) recently featured an appearance by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, which triggered the government’s "equal time" provision. This regulation allowed former President Donald Trump to make use of the opportunity on Sunday.

Starting with a warm greeting to "all our best sports fans," Trump, sporting his signature red "Make America Great Again" cap, appeared in a 60-second video. The unusual video aired on many NBC stations after a NASCAR race, and Trump took the chance to urge viewers to vote.

The moment Harris's appearance on SNL was confirmed, Trump supporters raised concerns about the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) "equal time" rule. Brendan Carr, a Republican who was appointed to the FCC by Trump in 2017, commented on X (formerly Twitter), saying, "This is a blatant attempt to dodge the FCC's equal time rule."

The government’s rule is designed to ensure that if a political candidate receives airtime on a broadcast channel, their opponent is entitled to request equal time on that channel. While news programs are exempt from this rule, entertainment shows like "SNL" fall under its scope.

Harris was granted around a minute and 30 seconds of free airtime on "SNL," according to a network filing submitted to the FCC.

“We’re only two days away from the most important election in our nation’s history,” Trump said in his video, adding, “We have to protect our country, and right now, it’s in terrible shape.”

Some of Trump’s statements were contentious, as he commented, “We’re heading toward a recession, given the current state of things.” However, the contents of the video were not subject to fact-checking.