Team Trump pushes major networks for equal time on Biden's “campaign ad.”

A planned prime-time address left former President Donald Trump lashing out at the corporate media as his campaign adviser put them on “warning” if they don't provide him with “equal access.”

In the midst of being absent from the public eye for nearly six full days, President Joe Biden abandoned his re-election campaign and threw his weight behind Vice President Kamala Harris. As he was expected to make his first remarks to the American people about “what lies ahead” on Wednesday evening, the Trump campaign reminded the major networks that the way they proceeded could jeopardize their licenses.

“We are writing to demand that your network provide equal prime-time time for President Trump to address the American people about his vision for the future,” Trump campaign adviser David Warrington wrote , in duplicate letters sent to ABC, Inc., CBS Broadcasting. , Inc., Fox Corporation and NBCUniversal Media LLC that were obtained by Breitbart News.

“On July 23, 2024, President Biden announced that he would give a prime-time address on Wednesday, July 24, 2024. That speech is expected to address President Biden's decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race in the wake of his widely criticized performance and poll numbers in freefall,” Warrington said. “He is also expected to address President Biden's endorsement of Vice President (and 'border czar') Kamala Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination.”

“As such,” he argued, “it appears that President Biden's speech will not be a bona fide news event, but rather a prime-time campaign ad to boost Vice President Harris' anemic poll numbers “.

07232024 Demand for equal time (… for Breitbart News

In addition to his daily briefing, the president's public schedule listed the Oval Office address as his only scheduled event for the day, after Biden's social media account announced Tuesday: “Tomorrow evening at 8 p.m. ET, I will address the nation from the Oval Office about what lies ahead and how I will finish the job for the American people.”

Tomorrow evening at 8:00 PM ET, I will address the nation from the Oval Office about what lies ahead and how I will finish the job for the American people.

— President Biden (@POTUS) July 23, 2024

Warrington went on to cite federal equal time law to claim that the networks would be “required to provide equal opportunity to President Trump.”

According to the Federal Communications Commission, “FCC rules are intended to ensure that no legally qualified candidate for office has unfairly less access to the airwaves, outside of bona fide news exemptions, than his opponent .Equality of opportunity generally means offering comparable time and place to opposing candidates; it does not require a broadcaster to provide opposing candidates with programs identical to the initiating candidate.”

The criteria by which a person was deemed to be a “lawfully qualified candidate” included publicly announced intent, meeting the qualifications for the office being sought, and qualifying for a place on the ballot.

Having already presented a complaint with the FEC after Biden's war chest for president worth more than $90 million was handed over to Harris's campaign for president, Trump's lawyer warned what he might come to say on the networks , “any breach of equal access may be considered 'willful' and result in consequences up to and including revocation of the station licence.”

“Additionally, your granting of free lead time to President Biden to speak on behalf of Vice President Harris' campaign may result in an impermissible and excessive in-kind corporate contribution to the Biden (now Harris) Chairman's Committee,” he said. add Warrington, who closed. with a mic drop, “We're waiting to hear when we should schedule President Trump's address to the American people.”

Staff writer

A native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College, where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and seeker of the truth, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and dog, and when he's not researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel ·the.

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