Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico’s fame has skyrocketed after Stephen Colbert said CBS refused to air his interview with the rising star on The Late Show.
The interview was posted on YouTube and The Late Show’s social channels after Colbert told audiences during his taping that he wasn’t allowed to feature the Texas State Representative on the TV broadcast for fear of upsetting Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr.
Audiences all over social media say they wouldn’t have watched Colbert’s interview with Talarico if it weren’t for CBS’s decision to block it.
The top comment on The Late Show’s TikTok post about the censorship said, “Probs would have skipped it if you did nothing,” user Niniwesome said. Another social media user wrote on Talarico’s YouTube interview, “The FCC not wanting me to watch this made me want to watch this.”
Colbert said he would not remain silent in the wake of CBS’s decision.
“I was told in some uncertain terms that not only could I not have him on, I could not mention not having him on. And because my network clearly doesn’t want us to talk about this, let’s talk about this.” Colbert said.
Views of the interview and Colbert discussing the censorship during the taping of the broadcast show on his YouTube channel have surpassed the views of his last nine posts.
CBS has been in turmoil since Bari Weiss, former editor-in-chief of the Free Press, took over the broadcaster’s top editorial role after being appointed by Trump friend David Ellison.
In a statement, CBS said allowed to broadcast but would have to give equal time to Talarico’s rivals in the Texas race.
“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 statement said.
Talarico has been a frequent focal point of Carr. The Trump goon first launched an inquiry against the hosts of The View for featuring the candidate nearly two weeks ago.
Carr singling out Talarico has drawn more attention to him, creating something of a Streisand Effect for the 36-year-old. The Streisand Effect was coined after legendary singer Barbra Streisand sued a photographer in 2003 for $50 million after he took an aerial photo of her Malibu mansion, causing the image to go viral.
According to Google Trends statistics, nationally in the past 24 hours, James Talarico’s name has been searched 5x more than that of Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett, his competitor for Texas Senator John Cornyn’s seat, and the attention could fundamentally shift the competitive election.
According to Texas Public Opinion Research, at the end of January, Crockett and Talarico were nearly tied among Democratic Primary Voters, with Crockett’s 38 percent to Talarico’s 37 percent.
One of the largest issues holding Talarico back in polling was his lower name recognition than Crockett’s, with pollsters identifying a serious “visibility gap” between the two candidates.
A total of 35 percent of voters said they did not hear from him or his campaign at all. A further 27 percent of voters said they did not know who he was, versus 15 percent for Crockett.
Whoever wins the Democratic primary will go on to face either sitting GOP Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, or Rep. Wesley Hunt, all of whom have had their own competitive primary seasons as Trump has refused to endorse any particular candidate.
In both cases with CBS and The View, Carr cited a 1934 equal-time rule which requires broadcasters to give political candidates “equal opportunities” to be featured on their platforms.
In January, Carr specified this may now apply to the “airing of late-night and daytime talk shows” as part of the agency’s renewed efforts to enforce the decades-old law. Prior to the second Trump administration, these talk shows were designated as “bona fide news” and didn’t have to adhere to the 1934 rule.
Carr has previously said commentators like Jimmy Kimmel and Colbert use their talk shows for “purely partisan political purposes.” Colbert called out Carr, saying, “I think you are motivated by partisan purposes yourself,” and added that it may be because of Trump’s sensitivities.
“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. Okay? He’s like a toddler with too much screen time. He gets cranky and then drops a load in his diapers. So, it’s no surprise,” Colbert said.
