On Saturday morning, the sitting president of the United States, Donald Trump, tweeted that late night hosts were being too critical of him. He posed a question: “Should we get Equal Time?”

Late Night host are dealing with the Democrats for their very "unfunny" & repetitive material, always anti-Trump! Should we get Equal Time? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2017

Four minutes later, as if posing this question was the beginning of an outpouring of public support for the enforcement of the equal time rule, Trump tweeted that “more and more people are suggesting” that Republicans in general (and Trump in particular) should get more time on television.

More and more people are suggesting that Republicans (and me) should be given Equal Time on T.V. when you look at the one-sided coverage? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2017

This is not how the equal time rule works. The rule requires that, if a radio or television station gives a certain opportunity (say, an interview, a commercial, hosting a show) to one candidate, it must also offer that opportunity to “other such candidates for that office.” The idea is to prevent media companies and broadcast stations from providing only one candidate’s viewpoint to the people in an effort to influence elections.


While Trump did declare his candidacy for re-election earlier than any of his predecessors — Inauguration Day of 2017 — the commentary currently upsetting the president is about his performance as president, not candidate.

And even if the re-election campaign were to technically start in the first year of Trump’s presidency, it would be other as-yet-undeclared candidates who would be the ones to ask for the enforcement of the equal time rule. Trump gets free media coverage from interviews and campaign speeches whenever he wants, as well as benefiting from the institutional media infrastructure of the presidency (as any incumbent does). Additionally, Trump’s campaign is already airing ads.

The equal time rule did come up during the 2016 presidential campaign, though Trump was the ceiling, not the floor, for coverage.

As the GOP frontrunner, Trump was offered the opportunity to host NBC’s Saturday Night Live in November 2015. He took it, and while he received mixed reviews about his dancing in one sketch and his hosting abilities in general, a presidential candidate received a highly-publicized, free opportunity for national attention — his main campaign media strategy at the time.

But Trump was running against 17 other candidates who were not afforded the same opportunity. Four of these candidates asked NBC for equal time and were afforded an approximation by the network: Lindsey Graham, John Kasich, Mike Huckabee, and James Gilmore were given 12 minutes of commercial and promo time three weeks later during Saturday Night Live on 18 local affiliates in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.


If anyone is in a position to ask for equal time, it’s Rep. John Delaney (D-MD), the only candidate to declare he is running for president other than Trump.

UPDATE: Jimmy Kimmel, a late night host on ABC who at times has been very critical of Trump, replied to the president’s tweet offering to give Trump his job as a late night host if he’d quit his job as president.

Excellent point Mr. President! You should quit that boring job – I'll let you have my show ALL to yourself #MAGA — Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) October 7, 2017

Then, Kimmel got into a back and forth with the first son, Donald Trump Jr., who is supposed to be ignoring the Trump administration and focusing entirely on the Trump businesses.

Trump Jr. replied to Kimmel’s tweet asking about Harvey Weinstein, and Kimmel answered that he thought the New York Times reports of sexual assault were disgusting. Trump Jr. said he looked forward to Kimmel’s monologues next week on the subject.

Great I look forward to your monologues next week. You're probably due for a change if only for a moment or two. https://t.co/hoEbRApHeT — Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 7, 2017

Kimmel replied with a link to the Access Hollywood tape where Trump Jr.’s father bragged about sexual assault in graphic terms, which was released a year ago Saturday, saying, “great – in the meantime, enjoy this!”