Jen Psaki Taunts Trump Over Gonzo Numbers For Banned Colbert Talarico Hit: ‘Backfiring Spectacularly!’

MS NOW host and former Biden White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki taunted President Donald Trump over the gonzo numbers being racked up by Stephen Colbert’s spiked interview with State Rep. James Talarico (D-TX), gleefully declaring the president’s pressure campaign is “backfiring spectacularly.”

Talarico is running against Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) to be the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in a race that’s tantalizingly close to fulfilling the recurring “Texas Mirage.”

The candidate has been targeted by Trump’s FCC for his appearances on The View and, this week, an interview with Colbert that the network nixed from the broadcast and relegated to online-only viewing. The segment has over 5 million views on YouTube and counting, outpacing popular clips that have had years to accumulate viewers.

On Tuesday’s edition of MS NOW’s The Briefing with Jen Psaki, the host lambasted CBS and noted the millions of views Talarico has racked up for Colbert since the interview dropped.

JEN PSAKI: Meanwhile, the network has decided to retain a controversial health expert who was brought in by the new leadership, despite the fact that he is now under fire for his ties and gross emails with Jeffrey Epstein. He recently apologized for those ties and isn’t accused of criminal wrongdoing. But others have faced consequences for just associating with Epstein.

I mean, given all of that, it’s no wonder that CBS made the decision to bow to Trump’s FCC and basically blocked Stephen Colbert from airing his interview with a Texas Democratic candidate.

But here’s the thing, like so many of Trump’s censorship efforts, this one is also backfiring spectacularly. Stephen Colbert decided to post his entire interview with James Talarico online, where it has been viewed millions of times across different platforms. So instead of just letting a normal candidate interview take place on a late night show, millions of people are now tuning in to hear this message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLBERT: Now, here’s the thing. I don’t usually say this to a guest, but if people are watching this right now, it’s because they found us online on YouTube. I did an act of the show that’s on tonight, explaining why it’s not the first time you’ve caused some drama. FCC opening probe into “The View” after appearance by Talarico. Do you mean to cause trouble?

STATE REP. JAMES TALARICO (D), TEXAS: I — I think that Donald Trump is worried that we’re about to flip Texas and —

(CHEERING)

TALARICO: And, Stephen, this — this is the party that ran against cancel culture. And now they’re 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.

They went after “The View” because I went on there. They went after Jimmy Kimmel for telling a joke they didn’t like. They went after you for telling the truth about Paramount’s bribe to Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PSAKI: I don’t think—I’m fairly certain Trump and Brendan Carr really didn’t intend to help broadcast that message widely across the Internet, right? Millions of people have seen it.

Watch above via MS NOW’s The Briefing with Jen Psaki.

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