online-only exclusive<\/a>\u201d \u2014 but do apply to local TV and radio stations.\n <\/p>\n\n The rule require stations to give equal airtime to all legally qualified candidates for public office \u2014 if one is featured, his or her rivals have to be given time, too.\n <\/p>\n
\n There are big exemptions for news coverage, and for the past two decades that exemption has also been thought to apply to late night and daytime talk shows.\n <\/p>\n
\n But FCC chair Brendan Carr is rejecting that thinking. Last month, he said stations should no longer assume that shows like Colbert\u2019s are exempted from the rule.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIf you\u2019re fake news, you\u2019re not going to qualify for the bona fide news exemption,\u201d Carr said at a press conference.\n <\/p>\n
\n As Carr\u2019s use of the phrase \u201cfake news\u201d indicates, he is a staunch ally of President Trump. He has been harshly critical of liberal-leaning talk shows like ABC\u2019s \u201cThe View\u201d and has been open about reducing the power of national networks.\n <\/p>\n
\n But the FCC\u2019s enforcement powers are limited. The lone Democratic commissioner at the FCC, Anna Gomez, said last month that Carr\u2019s claims were misleading: \u201cThe FCC has not adopted any new regulation, interpretation, or Commission-level policy altering the long-standing news exemption or equal time framework.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n A source at the FCC reiterated that point, saying, \u201cOnce again here, the threat is the point.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe point is to force shows and networks to second-guess their decisions in light of this \u2018new\u2019 guidance,\u201d the source told CNN on condition of anonymity.\n <\/p>\n
\n However, CBS indicated in a Tuesday statement that it is taking the new guidance seriously.\n <\/p>\n
\n It said that Colbert\u2019s show \u201cwas 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.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n According to CBS, the show \u201cdecided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on-air promotion on the broadcast rather than potentially providing the equal-time options.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\t\tRep. James Talarico On Confronting Christian Nationalism, And Strange Days In The Texas Legislature
\n\t\t![\"Video](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771363450_154_hqdefault.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n In other words, Colbert\u2019s long commentary claiming that he wasn\u2019t even allowed to show Talarico\u2019s picture was all part of a clever promotion of the show\u2019s YouTube channel, according to the network.\n <\/p>\n
\n A report about the Trump administration\u2019s reaction to an earlier Talarico interview may have prompted CBS to exercise caution in this instance.\n <\/p>\n
\n After Talarico appeared on \u201cThe View\u201d two weeks ago, Reuters reported that the FCC was opening an investigation into the possible \u201cequal time\u201d violation.\n <\/p>\n
\n Gomez called it a \u201csham\u201d investigation, however, predicting that no meaningful action would be taken and calling it another example of \u201cgovernment intimidation.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n On Tuesday, Gomez decried the CBS action, saying, \u201cCBS is fully protected under the First Amendment to determine what interviews it airs. That makes its decision to yield to political pressure all the more disappointing. Corporate interests cannot justify retreating from airing newsworthy content.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Colbert\u2019s comments on Monday night indicate that he feels the same way.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cLet\u2019s just call this what it is,\u201d he said. \u201cDonald Trump\u2019s administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV. Because all Trump does is watch TV.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n He also had pointed words for Carr: \u201cSir, you\u2019re chairman of the FCC, so FCC you.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n In the interview, Talarico called out the FCC\u2019s conduct, albeit not by name.\n <\/p>\n
\n Talarico said Republicans \u201cran against cancel culture, and now they\u2019re 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.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThey went after \u2018The View\u2019 because I went on there,\u201d Talarico continued. \u201cThey went after Jimmy Kimmel for telling a joke they didn\u2019t like. They went after you for telling the truth about Paramount\u2019s bribe to Donald Trump.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
![\"Texas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/gettyimages-2234856173.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Last year the previous owners of Paramount paid $16 million to resolve an extraordinary lawsuit filed by Trump over a \u201c60 Minutes\u201d news report he didn\u2019t like.\n <\/p>\n
\n The funds were allocated to Trump\u2019s future presidential library, mirroring a settlement agreement that Disney\u2019s ABC struck with Trump earlier.\n <\/p>\n
\n Critics of the settlement described it as a bribe because Paramount was trying to win Trump administration approval for a media mega-merger at the time.\n <\/p>\n
\n The FCC allowed the merger to move forward just a few weeks after Paramount struck the settlement deal, though Carr insisted the matters were not connected.\n <\/p>\n
\n Carr has not responded to CNN\u2019s request for comment about Colbert\u2019s on-air criticism Monday night.\n <\/p>\n
\n But Talarico has used the controversy to garner attention for his Senate candidacy, just weeks before the March 3 primary vote.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThis is the interview Donald Trump didn\u2019t want you to see,\u201d he wrote on X overnight, sharing a clip of the YouTube video.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cHis FCC refused to air my interview with Stephen Colbert,\u201d Talarico wrote. \u201cTrump is worried we\u2019re about to flip Texas.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n The interview has totaled more than 2 million views on YouTube, and millions of additional views on other social media platforms.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stephen Colbert taped a \u201cLate Show\u201d interview with James Talarico, a candidate in the Democratic Senate primary in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-481514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}