The campaign of Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is $2.5 million richer this week and a little closer to victory after Stephen Colbert, host of “The Late Show” on CBS, made up a ridiculous lie about President Trump’s censorship.
It took a few days for the dust to settle, but now that we have a clear picture of what happened, it’s about as bad as it can be. In fact, it would probably be a criminal offense if the ratings were questioned. Colbert wouldn’t get the ax in May.
Host Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on July 21, 2025. (Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images)
According to Colbert’s version of events, which is falling apart faster than a house of cards in a wind tunnel, he was told by CBS lawyers on Monday, just minutes before he was to interview Talarico, that he could not broadcast the conversation. Why? Due to the Trump administration’s new Federal Communication Commission rules on equal time.
The sulky Colbert went on to tell his audience that he didn’t mean to tell them he was being censored, but that, donning his superhero cape for freedom of speech, he would do the interview anyway, challenge his bosses and publish it on YouTube.
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The only problem with all this is that, according to both CBS and the FCC, no one told Colbert the interview couldn’t be aired. He just made it up. All that happened was that CBS’s lawyers told him that if he had Talarico on, he might also have to devote equal time to his main Demcorat opponent, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas.
It’s not clear why Colbert would have any problem wearing Crockett, unless perhaps he and his friends in high places think the preppy white Bible school boy is more preferable to the sassy black finger-snapping lady.
Talarico was raising money through Colbert’s lie within minutes, raking in $2.5 million. Oh, and did I mention that early voting in Texas started on Tuesday, the day after this duplicitous debacle?
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It was truly remarkable to see. Even on Wednesday, knowing full well that Colbert had not been censored, CNN had an entire panel claiming that the Trump administration’s pressure on CBS had backfired because of the fundraising and the five million YouTube views the video received.
Representative Jasmine Crockett told The View that on January 6, 2026, President Trump tried to be the Nicolás Maduro of the US. (ABC/TheView)
All the FCC has said, without taking any action, is that it can enforce equal time rules for talk shows, something it hasn’t done in the past, but given how lopsided late night comedy and daytime talk shows have become, it’s worth considering.
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“The View,” ABC’s morning girl, had 128 liberal guests and only two conservatives in 2025, including actress Cheryl Hines, who is not actually conservative, just married to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In short, the reason equal time rules aren’t enforced on talk shows is because they never had to be, because Johnny Carson, Tom Snyder, and Phil Donahue didn’t turn their shows into nonstop political ads. That has clearly changed.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr called the furor surrounding “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert’s interview with Texas Democrat James Talarico a “hoax.” (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Scott Kowalchyk ©2026 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All rights reserved.)
Colbert has been very clear that he is purposefully using his “comedy show” to push a political agenda, in this case to the benefit of James Talarico and to the detriment of Jasmine Crockett, who now finds herself in the awkward position of defending the Trump administration.
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But no matter where you stand on the equal-time rules, it’s obvious that Colbert is just plain lying when he says they were used to keep his interview off the air. Unfortunately, it’s a lie that could take many Democratic voters to their deathbeds.
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There were two major victims of Colbert’s perfidy, the first being Crockett, who may discover that she is a little too brown and haughty for the rich white men who still control the liberal media and politics.
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The second victim was the average citizen, who was separated from his money to fill Talarico’s coffers based on Colbert’s lies.
Luckily, we only have about two more months to deal with Colbert’s nonsense and lies, at least on CBS late night. Then he can go to YouTube and interview anyone he wants, just like he could have done on Monday night.
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