Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico, who is running for a seat in the U.S. Senate, falsely accused the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Tuesday of refusing to air his interview on CBS’ “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”
Talarico said on X that the FCC pulled the segment because President Donald Trump was scared that the Democrats would “flip Texas.” However, host Stephen Colbert explained on Monday that the network independently decided not to air the broadcast to comply with the FCC’s equal time rule, which requires radio and broadcast channels that interview a political candidate to also give airtime to their opponent.
“This is the interview Donald Trump didn’t want you to see. His FCC refused to air my interview with Stephen Colbert. Trump is worried we’re about to flip Texas,” Talarico wrote on X.
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Colbert announced that his pre-taped segment with Talarico would not air after the network’s lawyers informed them it could cause a rift with the FCC.
“[Talarico] was supposed to be here. But we were told by no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast,” Colbert said.
CBS News said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation that the network was not prohibited from airing the interview, though they received guidance that the segment could “trigger the FCC equal-time rule” for the candidates running against Talarico.
“THE LATE SHOW was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico. The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled,” the network said in a statement. “THE LATE SHOW decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on-air promotion on the broadcast rather than potentially providing the equal-time options.”
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The FCC makes exceptions to the equal time rule with news and talk show interviews. However, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr warned networks in a Jan. 21 letter that he was considering eliminating the exception due to potential partisan motivations.
“But on Jan. 21 of this year, a letter was released by FCC chairman and smug bowling pin, Brendan Carr. In this letter, Carr said he was thinking about dropping the exception for talk shows because he said some of them were ‘motivated by partisan purposes.’ Well, sir, you’re chairman of the FCC, so FCC you,” Colbert continued.
The FCC opened an investigation into ABC’s “The View” on Feb. 7 over a potential violation of the equal time rule, particularly after Talarico appeared on the program. Disney, ABC’s parent company, did not file equal-time paperwork with the FCC for Talarico’s appearance, which prompted the investigation.
Talarico is running against Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the state primary.
Talarico’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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