Harris accused of stealing Trump's SNL skit

The campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris has been accused of stealing former President Donald Trump's Saturday Night Live script. 

This comes after Harris, according to Fox News, made an appearance on NBC's latest broadcast of Saturday Night Live. 

The appearance has led to significant controversy - beyond the aforementioned accusation, that Harris's campaign stole Trump's skit.

NBC has also been accused of violating the Federal Communications Commission's Equal Time Rule.

Blatant theft?

According to Fox, many are arguing that Harris's SNL appearance was essentially a copy of Trump's appearance on SNL back in 2015.

Fox reports:

Harris appeared in the sketch alongside her impersonator, Maya Rudolph, at the end of the cold open. In the sketch, Harris appears as a reflection in a mirror to offer advice to Rudolph’s Harris. "I wish I 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," Rudolph’s Harris wondered to herself in an empty dressing room. The vice president, who was then revealed to be on the other side of the dressing room mirror, responded, "You and me both, sister."

Many are arguing that this is too similar to Trump's 2015 skit with Jimmy Fallon to be a coincidence. There was also an "in-the-mirror" skit.

Harris's campaign, in fact, has faced numerous allegations of plagiarizing, perhaps most notably, of plagiarizing the Trump campaign's policies.

Harris, herself, though is also alleged to have plagiarized things in the past.

Equal Time Rule violation

NBC is now facing accusations of violating the FCC's equal time rule.

Fox explains:

The Federal Communications Commission’s equal-time rule was established in 1934 and requires radio and television broadcast stations to provide the same amount of time for competing political candidates. There are exceptions to the rule such as newscasts, documentaries and political debates.

The argument is that, in allowing Harris to appear on SNL, it improperly gave more time to Harris than it did to Trump.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr has put out multiple statements arguing that this is a fairly clear violation of the rule. Carr said, "This has all the appearances of, at least some leadership at NBC, at SNL, making clear that they wanted to weigh in in favor of one candidate before the election."

The big question going forward is how this is going to play out - whether NBC will face a penalty for this violation. Time will tell.