James Talarico, the Texas Democrat running for Senate, has made many headlines for his TV interviews. Now, he’s getting attention for an interview that didn’t make it on the air.
As early voting begins in Texas, Talarico is bringing attention to his unaired late-night talk show interview with Stephen Colbert.
The message: “This is the interview Donald Trump didn’t want you to see,” Talarico posted on X early Tuesday.
His campaign shared several clips of Talarico’s interview with Colbert, which was posted on the YouTube page for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
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“Donald Trump is worried we’re about to flip Texas,” Talarico said on the posted segment.
A spokesperson for the Talarico campaign pointed NOTUS to his comments on the show.
During his monologue Monday night, Colbert said CBS’s lawyers told him “in no uncertain terms” that Talarico could not appear on the broadcast due to the Federal Communications Commission’s changes to the enforcement of the “equal time” rule — which dictates that radio and TV broadcasters give equal airtime to political candidates if requested.
News content has traditionally been exempted from that rule, but FCC Chair Brendan Carr changed the guidance last month to say that programs “motivated by partisan purposes” are not exempt.
The FCC reportedly opened an investigation earlier this month into ABC’s “The View” for allegedly breaking the “equal time” rule by interviewing Talarico.
Colbert said he was also told that he could not mention Talarico’s interview being held off the air.
“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,” Colbert said Monday night.
The situation has earned online attention for the state representative who faces a tough primary election against U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett.
In a statement to NOTUS, CBS denied that the Colbert was “prohibited” from airing the interview.
“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,” the CBS statement said.
Democrats are eager to flip the Senate seat, especially with the messy three-way Republican primary.
CBS announced in July it would cancel Colbert’s show, and its final episode is scheduled to air in May.
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This story was updated with a statement from CBS.
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