CNN’s Brian Stelter Shoots Down Texas Dem’s Claim FCC Banned His Interview With Stephen Colbert

Texas Senate candidate James Talarico (D) claimed the FCC banned his interview with Stephen Colbert — but CNN’s Brian Stelter shot down that claim on Wednesday.

“He’s wrong about that,” Stelter said during an appearance on CNN’s News Central. “The FCC did not ban the interview.”

The Monday night interview did not air on CBS because the network’s attorneys warned Colbert he would have to interview other candidates to avoid violating the FCC’s Equal Time Rule. Instead, Colbert opted to have the interview run only on YouTube. The FCC announced last month it would be enforcing the rule after it had not been enforced against late night shows for the last 20 years.

“That’s what is actually so interesting about this. It’s about the impression, the possibility of interference, causing the networks to possibly self-censor,” Stelter continued. “CBS read the proverbial room. They sensed that the FCC might try to aggressively enforce these rules and thus encourage Colbert to just put it on YouTube and keep it off the public airwaves.”

CBS pushed back on Colbert and Talarico’s framing in a statement shared with Mediaite on Tuesday:

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.

Talarico on Wednesday complained that the FCC “banned our Colbert interview” in an X post celebrating that his campaign raised $2.5 million in the day since his chummy interview.

Crockett on Tuesday said she did not get an interview invitation from Colbert and that she disagreed with how Colbert and Talarico characterized events; she said her understanding was the “federal government didn’t shut this down.”

Stelter added that he felt something Don Lemon recently said — “the process is the punishment” — applies to this case. He said FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is being overly strict with the rules to try and inflict pain on MAGA critics — and make them “obey in advance.”

Watch above via CNN.

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