Trump trades barbs with TV hosts
President Donald Trump lashed out Saturday against late-night television show hosts who have been sharply critical of his administration and Republicans.
Trump took to Twitter to argue that the GOP should be given “equal time” because of the “one-sided” coverage, an apparent reference to Federal Communications Commission rules dealing with political candidates during elections.
“Late Night host(s) are dealing with the Democrats for their very ‘unfunny’ & repetitive material, always anti-Trump!” he tweeted. “Should we get Equal Time?” Trump also suggested “more and more people” are clamoring for more coverage of Republicans, who control the White House and Congress.
Seth Meyers, among the most vocal Trump critics, immediately tweeted back that he’d “love” to have Trump on his NBC show and sarcastically provided his studio address as “15 Penguin Avenue, Antarctica.”
ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, another critic, added : “Excellent point Mr. President! You should quit that boring job — I’ll let you have my show ALL to yourself #MAGA.”
Others pointed out that “equal time” is meant for campaign season, not to protect elected officials from being the butt of television humor. “That’s not how it works. You’re not campaigning. You’re the president,” Mike DiCenzo, a writer and producer for NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” tweeted. “Now kindly stop tweeting nonsense and go do your job for once.”