Democrat Senate Candidate Falsely Claims FCC ‘Refused To Air’ His Stephen Colbert Interview

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 will “flip Texas.” However, host Stephen Colbert explained on Monday that the network independently made the decision to not 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.

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.”