On February 16, late-night comedian Stephen Colbert revealed on The Late Show that CBS refused to broadcast his interview with Texas state Representative and candidate for United States Senate James Talarico, which was supposed to air that night.
CBS was intimidated by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr, who wants to expand the equal-time rule, which was originally designed to prevent one candidate from gaining more air time than others in 1927, to cover entertainment programs including late-night and daytime talk shows. CBS lawyers told Colbert that Talarico could not appear on his show, and that Colbert could not mention the censorship of the interview.
CBS refuted Colbert’s statement, responding that it merely provided Colbert with “legal guidance.” However, this is difficult to believe, because CBS’s parent company surrendered to a frivolous Trump lawsuit.
To bypass the censorship, Colbert posted his interview with Talarico on the Internet, which is not subject to an equal-time rule. Republicans have been fearful of Talarico, who has polled competitively against Republican candidates Ken Paxton and Senator John Cornyn.
