‘This Is a Huge Shift!’ Mediaite’s Luke Touma Explains Why James Talarico Is Being ‘Cancelled’ by MAGA

Mediaite commentator Luke Touma broke down what he claims is the real reason the FCC has been going after U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico (D) for appearing on shows like The View and The Late Show.

Shortly after the progressive candidate appeared on The View earlier this month, FCC Chair Brendan Carr confirmed that he’s opening an investigation into the ABC show, telling Laura Ingraham, “the days that these legacy media broadcasters get to decide what we can say, what we can think, who we can vote for are over.” ABC hasn’t publicly commented on the action.

This week, The Late Show host Stephen Colbert claimed CBS lawyers had prevented him from having Talarico on the show due to the FCC’s “equal time provision.” CBS denied that it “prevented” the interview, saying in a statement, “The show was provided legal guidance…and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled.”

On the Mediaite podcast, Touma said the FCC’s alleged attempt to silence Talarico was far different from when the agency targeted late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for telling jokes at Trump’s expense.

“James Talarico is not someone who makes fun of Trump or bashes his personality, or makes jokes about his…orange skin, or the way he speaks, or the way he posts,” Touma said. “This would make sense if this was Gavin Newsom. Because Trump hates looking like fool. Being made fun of. He’s got extremely thin skin, he’s ultra-sensitive.”

Touma continued:

I think what you’re seeing there is…beyond Trump trying to punish anyone saying anything bad about him. It’s now gone to, “We want to silence anyone who we think has a chance of beating our candidate in a meaningful election.” They do not want this guy to be a senator in Texas. Because…he’s polling well but he’s a progressive, leftist candidate. and he’s gonna push an economic populist platform. And he’s gonna push for things like raising the minimum wage, and more public housing.

…

So, this is a huge shift. Because it’s not Donald Trump trying to use the FCC to get Jimmy Kimmel fired because he doesn’t like a joke Jimmy Kimmel made about him. It’s Donald Trump trying to silence — or the Trump administration — trying to silence the voice via the FCC of the progressive leftist candidate, who they seem to be scared of, he’s gonna win the election.

Touma said the strategy is already backfiring. Talarico posted to social media, “Our campaign raised $2.5 million in 24 hours after the FCC banned our Colbert interview.”

Watch Mediaite’s Luke Touma via YouTube above.

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