{"id":479282,"date":"2026-02-20T05:25:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T05:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/479282\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T05:25:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T05:25:13","slug":"colbert-controversy-pours-money-attention-on-texas-senate-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/479282\/","title":{"rendered":"Colbert controversy pours money, attention on Texas Senate race"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) \u2014 Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett<\/a> of Texas on Thursday urged supporters to look at experience in a heated U.S. Senate primary with state Rep. James Talarico<\/a>, who is riding a burst of wider attention in the race\u2019s pivotal final stretch over his unaired interview<\/a> with late-night host Stephen Colbert.<\/p>\n

The March 3 primary in Texas is the nation\u2019s first big contest of the 2026 midterm elections, and with early voting already underway, Talarico and Crockett are ramping up their bids as some Democrats see increasing opportunity in November\u2019s elections despite not having won a statewide race in Texas in more than 30 years.<\/p>\n

Crockett rallied voters at multiple stops around Dallas, her hometown, and in Fort Worth, campaigning in the county where a Democrat last month pulled off a stunning special election victory<\/a> in a heavily Republican district carried by President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, I\u2019m not saying that this moment is easy, but at least ya\u2019ll know exactly how I operate in this moment on the federal level,\u201d Crockett told supporters in Fort Worth. \u201cYou know who I am. You know how I get down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talarico began his own statewide tour this week and had sat for an interview on Colbert\u2019s show. But on Monday night, Colbert announced on the air that CBS lawyers had said the show couldn\u2019t broadcast the interview over fears of running afoul of Trump administration regulators. <\/p>\n

Talarico\u2019s campaign said it raised $2.5 million in the 24 hours after the interview was pulled. Crockett said in an interview on MS NOW this week that it probably gave her opponent \u201cthe boost he was looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Houston, Harris County Democratic Chair Mike Doyle said a bump for Talarico\u2019s campaign in wake of the pulled interview was \u201cundeniable.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWhether or not it pans out long-term, who knows?\u201d Doyle said. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Democratic<\/p>\n

Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico speaks to supporters at his campaign event at El Palacio Event Center in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (Mikala Compton\/Austin American-Statesman via AP)<\/p>\n

Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico speaks to supporters at his campaign event at El Palacio Event Center in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (Mikala Compton\/Austin American-Statesman via AP)<\/p>\n

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Texas\u2019 two hot Senate primaries<\/p>\n

Both Crockett and Talarico built national profiles through viral social media clips<\/a> before entering the Senate race last year. Talarico is known best for tying his positions to his Christian faith and often quoting Jesus, while Crockett\u2019s best-know clips feature her publicly castigating Republicans.<\/p>\n

Both are running for the seat held by four-term Republican Sen. John Cornyn,<\/a> who is facing the toughest race of his long political career in the primary against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton<\/a> and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt.<\/a><\/p>\n

Democrats haven\u2019t won a Senate race in Texas since 1988, but they see an opening this year to help boost their long-shot hopes of recapturing a Senate majority, especially if Republicans nominate Paxton, who is popular with MAGA voters but has had years of legal problems.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an honor to vote in this election. It was my name on the ballot,\u201d Talarico said after early voting this week in Austin. \u201cBut this is a movement that includes thousands of Texans. We are building a movement to take back our state and our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate arrives for a campaign event in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo\/Eric Gay)<\/p>\n

Texas state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate arrives for a campaign event in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo\/Eric Gay)<\/p>\n

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Why Colbert matters in Texas<\/p>\n

Colbert said on Monday night that CBS lawyers had advised him not to broadcast the interview with Talarico, citing concerns that it would violate regulatory guidance from the Trump administration. <\/p>\n

Talk shows have been exempt from the requirement to give candidates in a race equal time. Still, Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, has questioned whether the exemption should continue. Online material is not subject to the rule and Colbert\u2019s show posted the interview online, where as of Thursday it had racked up nearly 8 million views on YouTube.<\/p>\n

Colbert and Talarico have portrayed CBS as bowing to pressure from the Trump administration, while CBS has said its lawyers merely gave \u201clegal guidance\u201d to Colbert\u2019s show. Crockett has been on Colbert\u2019s show previously and said posting the Talarico interview on YouTube was a \u201cgood strategy\u201d for getting attention.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Primary<\/p>\n

Primary candidate for U.S. Senate Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, left, is greeted by Carleetah Saygo, right, after a campaign event in Richardson, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)<\/p>\n

Primary candidate for U.S. Senate Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, left, is greeted by Carleetah Saygo, right, after a campaign event in Richardson, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)<\/p>\n

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Crockett rallies supporters <\/p>\n

In Fort Worth on Thursday, Crockett told supporters, \u201cYou cannot let up off the gas\u201d because democracy under Trump is \u201changing on by a thread.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople want to know that it is not business as usual and that you are going to go to the mat because it matters,\u201d Crockett said. \u201cPeople are mad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ivon Gonzalez, a 41-year-old registered nurse from Fort Worth who came to the event after voting early for Crockett, said she heard what happened with Talarico and the Colbert show but hasn\u2019t watched the interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think that he has a big following and he seemed like a good guy overall,\u201d she said. \u201cI just want somebody with more grit, with more just fearlessness.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) \u2014 Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas on Thursday urged supporters to look at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[164749,23,17105,1062,12,1070,2442,793,69123,21482,6590,3,111,10674,1022,1059,8638,795,3438,21,792,19,11162,22,20,25,24,21492],"class_list":{"0":"post-479282","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-2026-elections","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-brendan-carr","11":"tag-dallas","12":"tag-donald-trump","13":"tag-elections","14":"tag-fort-worth","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-james-talarico","17":"tag-john-cornyn","18":"tag-ken-paxton","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-politics","21":"tag-stephen-colbert","22":"tag-texas","23":"tag-tx-state-wire","24":"tag-u-s-democratic-party","25":"tag-u-s-news","26":"tag-u-s-republican-party","27":"tag-united-states","28":"tag-united-states-government","29":"tag-united-states-of-america","30":"tag-united-states-senate","31":"tag-unitedstates","32":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","33":"tag-us","34":"tag-usa","35":"tag-wesley-hunt"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}