--- description: John Kasich and Lindsey Graham have filed petitions asking for equal time on air title: Republicans Ask NBC for Equal Airtime After Trump Hosts SN image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f552224e5c5fddc/69887187ab6d77ceb86a72fa/gettyimages-496327146.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Republicans Ask NBC for Equal Airtime After Trump Hosts _SNL_ by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 17, 2015 6:12 PM CUT  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](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 17, 2015 6:12 PM CUT 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/ "undefined"). 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 "undefined"). ```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":"2026-02-22T12:42:12.950Z","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 topic","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"}}]}] ```