Actually, they have. Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders have appeared on multiple Fox shows. So too have the Democratic governors Gavin Newsom, Josh Shapiro, Wes Moore and Gretchen Whitmer, and senators Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, John Fetterman and Chris Coons also dropped in on the network. (Although some may consider Fetterman 'barely' a Democrat these days.)
Well for one thing, the question was Fox News, and they'd likely be exempt as bonafide news right? If we're bringing the rest of Fox (we mean broadcast right?) into this, having had people on is not AT ALL the same as fulfilling equal time requirements. Jimmy Kimmel has had people on, Trump himself, Ted Cruz, etc. it doesn't mean anything.
The question is really if Judge Judy (national program carried by Fox broadcast affiliates) had a special with Ken Paxton, guest judge, on trial, jury, makes no diff, does the station have to give equal time to James Talarico.
TMZ Live, if they have Talrico on, does the Fox affiliate have to give Paxton time?
Or, does the 700 Club, that syndicated weird religious fake news program, if they interview Paxton, is the station required to give equal time to Talrico?
Dr Phil Primetime: One on One with Donald Trump aired in 2024 in several broadcast markets, did they have to give Biden/Harris equal time.
That's a good spread of entertainment through the faux seriousness spectrum. The only answer to any of these now is we'd have to find out because shits different. Some of those are not actually hypotheticals, we used to know the answer from past precedent, some we wouldn't know unless the candidates cared to ask. We definitely know the FCC didn't go bulldogging their party's opposition. Can national programs be broadcast safely with political candidates in them, and does the answer depend on which team they play for.