The Pesident, using the power of the FCC, can DEMAND the airtime.
Would the Democrats demand equal time?
FWIW
I came across some info. Here’s a snip
“.....Networks rarely refuse presidential requests, but it does happen and may even be increasingly common. In 2009 for example, Fox declined to show one of Barack Obama’s news conference during primetime, citing that the network would lose too much money in lost advertising revenue. In 2001, the network made the same decision for one of George W. Bush’s speeches, despite the White House’s request. In 2014, ABC, NBC and CBS all declined to air Obama’s November 2014 speech on immigration reform, though none would comment on why.
In January 2019, after some deliberation, the major networks agreed to President Donald Trump’s request for eight minutes to address the nation on immigration policy. In response, Democrats requested equal time to respond to a speech they predicted would be full of “malice and misinformation.” Most of the major networks agreed to carry the rebuttal as well [sources: Smith, Byers].”