Saturday Night Live makes fun of President Trump. So do late night comics like Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel. The President has had it with the late night shows that bash him, and Tweeted this week that maybe he should get equal time.
The late night comics like Colbert made fun of that suggestion, too. Does the President have a point? University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus told KTRH the Equal Time Doctrine normally applies to political campaign seasons, so this is a gray area.
“It’s not clear that even in the context of what the President’s beef is that the law would apply,” Rottinghaus stated.
Maybe the issue is that the President spends too much time responding to the late night shows on Twitter. What would happen if he stopped responding on Twitter? Would the late night comics back off? Or would they keep up with the nightly attacks? Rottinghaus isn't sure things would change.
“It probably wouldn’t stop, because the President is a public figure who is going to get pilloried regardless of what they say or do about it,” Rottinghaus explained, adding that Hollywood seems to delight in taking shots at the President, devoting entire shows to do it.