Leon Musk says SNL was unfair because

[Fiendish Thingy]

16. Actually, NBC had to give Trump equal time to compensate for Harris' SNL appearance

They gave him two minutes during a NASCAR event.

The fairness doctrine died years ago, but that was about content , not candidates. If a station aired an editorial expressing opinions, it had to give equal time to the opposing opinion.

That rule has been dead for a long time.

But if a candidate is given free air time, that is considered an “in kind” campaign donation unless the other candidate is given equal time. It’s not related to the fairness doctrine.

I don’t know how it works for talk shows like the View or Colbert- I’m guessing they offered the Trump campaign the opportunity to come on the show and face hostile questions, but were turned down.