James Talarico accuses CBS of 'selling out' to Trump as network denies Colbert's claim of blocking interview
Texas Democrat James Talarico took a swipe at CBS for "selling out" to the Trump administration as the network denied an explosive claim made by its outgoing "Late Show" host Stephen Colbert.
Colbert told viewers Monday his network blocked his interview with Talarico from airing as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) cracks down on its longstanding equal time policy, something CBS itself disputes.
Fox News Digital previously reported Talarico's appearance on ABC's "The View" earlier this month triggered a probe into the daytime talkshow.
"Do you mean to cause trouble?" Colbert asked Talarico in the interview, which was released on the show's YouTube page.
"I think that Donald Trump is worried that we're about to flip Texas," Talarico responded, sparking massive cheers from the liberal audience.
"This is the party that ran against cancel culture. And now they're trying to control what we watch, what we say, what we read. And this is the most dangerous kind of cancel culture, the kind that comes from the top," he continued. "They went after 'The View' because I went on there. They went after Jimmy Kimmel for telling a joke they didn't like. They went after you for telling the truth about Paramount's bribe to Donald Trump."
"Corporate media executives are selling out the First Amendment to curry favor with corrupt politicians and a threat to any of our First Amendment rights is a threat to all of our first rights," Talarico added.
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Colbert provided a "fact check" to Talarico, citing CBS' decision to cancel his show as purely a financial one and that he "remains very grateful for the last 11 years."
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a CBS spokesperson said, "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 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."
Representatives for the FCC nor the Talarico campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
Last month, the FCC announced it will require the broadcast networks to adhere to the "statutory equal opportunities requirement," citing the Communications Act of 1934, "including their airing of late-night and daytime talk shows." The talk shows were previously exempt from the policy when classified as "bona fide" news programs.
The policy requires all legally-qualified candidates who appear on the ballot to receive equal airtime. In Talarico's case, his Democratic rivals — which are Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett and little-known candidate Ahmad Hassan, should receive the same airtime ahead of the primary in March.
Talarico's appearance on "The View" marked one of the first candidates to appear on the three broadcast networks since the FCC announced its policy push.
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"On my watch, we're going to enforce this regulation," FCC Chairman Brendan Carr previously told Fox News Digital in an interview. "There's lots of ways of distributing programming these days that you don't need to comply with this regulation. If you're a cable channel, it largely doesn't apply. If you're a podcaster, no. If you are a streamer, no."
Colbert, who called Carr's policy push an effort to silence him and his liberal colleagues in late night, put his own network on blast for halting the Talarico interview from airing.
"Let's just call this what it is — Donald Trump's administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV because all Trump does is watch TV, OK? He's like a toddler who has had too much screen time," Colbert said, later adding, ""At this point, [Carr has] just released a letter that says he's thinking about doing away with the exception for late night. He hasn't done away with it yet, but my network is unilaterally enforcing it as if he had. But I want to assure you, this decision was purely for financial reasons."
Fox News Digital's Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi contributed to this report.