--- title: GOP Candidates Want Equal Time on NBC After Trump Hosts SNL description: John Kasich and Lindsey Graham have filed petitions asking for equal time on air canonical: https://time.com/4116676/gop-equal-time-nbc/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-17T18:12:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:53.808Z article:section: Politics og:title: Republicans Ask NBC for Equal Airtime After Trump Hosts SN og:description: John Kasich and Lindsey Graham have filed petitions asking for equal time on air og:url: https://time.com/4116676/gop-equal-time-nbc/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f552224e5c5fddc/69887187ab6d77ceb86a72fa/gettyimages-496327146.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Saturday Night Live - Season 41 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Republicans Ask NBC for Equal Airtime After Trump Hosts SN twitter:description: John Kasich and Lindsey Graham have filed petitions asking for equal time on air twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f552224e5c5fddc/69887187ab6d77ceb86a72fa/gettyimages-496327146.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Republicans Ask NBC for Equal Airtime After Trump Hosts _SNL_ > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c0dcba8d-d543-4c06-8f79-0e18c64519e5&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Nov 17, 2015 6:12 PM UTC  Pictured: (l-r) Taran Killam, Donald Trump, and Darrell Hammond during the monologue on November 7, 2015. Pictured: (l-r) Taran Killam, Donald Trump, and Darrell Hammond during the monologue on November 7, 2015. NBC—NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Nov 17, 2015 6:12 PM UTC Republican presidential candidates want their time in the spotlight after Donald Trump hosted NBC’s _Saturday Night Live._ Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Lindsey Graham filed requests Friday asking the network for equal time on-air citing Federal Communications Commission “equal time” rules. Former New York Gov. George Pataki said that he was also going to file, according to [CNNMoney](http://money.cnn.com/2015/11/16/media/kasich-graham-pataki-equal-time-nbc/). Trump was on screen for about 12 minutes when he hosted “SNL” earlier this month. According to letters sent by the candidates campaigns to NBC and affiliate station managers, FCC regulations call for equal opportunities granted to qualified candidates for public office. The law grants the candidates equal time on NBC, and they did not not specifically ask to be on _Saturday Night Live_. Graham and Kasich make the case that being competitive in Iowa qualifies them as contenders—and they should then be granted equal time on NBC. While Trump is polling at 25 percent in Iowa, Graham and Kasich are each polling at 2 percent, according to the latest [CNN/ORC poll](http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2015/images/11/05/relia2.pdf). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4116676/gop-equal-time-nbc/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4116676/gop-equal-time-nbc/"},"headline":"Republicans Ask NBC for Equal Airtime After Trump Hosts SNL","datePublished":"2015-11-17T18:12:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:53.808Z","description":"John Kasich and Lindsey Graham have filed petitions asking for equal time on air","url":"https://time.com/4116676/gop-equal-time-nbc/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","Saturday Night Live","Donald Trump","john kasich","Lindsey Graham","George Pataki"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f552224e5c5fddc/69887187ab6d77ceb86a72fa/gettyimages-496327146.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f552224e5c5fddc/69887187ab6d77ceb86a72fa/gettyimages-496327146.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Saturday Night Live - Season 41","caption":"Saturday Night Live - Season 41","creditText":"NBC—NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4116676/gop-equal-time-nbc/","name":"Republicans Ask NBC for Equal Airtime After Trump Hosts SNL"}}]}] ```