Democrats are now demanding “equal time” to respond to whatever idiocy 45* will proclaim tomorrow evening. At eight minutes in length, the announcement is now even more of a stunt rather than any policy statement.
“Now that the television networks have decided to air the President’s address, which if his past statements are any indication will be full of malice and misinformation, Democrats must immediately be given equal airtime," Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) said in a joint statement on Monday night.
All major networks have confirmed they will air Trump's Oval Office address, after some initial uncertainty over how the organizations would handle the speech announced Monday. CBS said in a statement to The Hill that the White House informed the network it will last no longer than eight minutes.
Trump is expected to use the speech to make his pitch on the border wall fight, which is at the center of a weeks-long government shutdown. He is also set to travel to the border on Thursday. The television address comes only weeks before Trump's end-of-the-month State of the Union speech.
Trump and Congress remain stalemated over funding for the U.S.-Mexico border wall, with the president digging in for his demand for more than $5 billion. Talks over the weekend that included Vice President Pence and congressional leadership staffers made no progress to resolve the funding fight.