Crockett Weighs in on the Colbert/Talarico Controversy
We talked earlier about how one of the Democratic candidates for the US Senate seat in Texas, James Talarico, was supposed to be interviewed on Stephen Colbert’s show.
But Colbert and Talarico claimed the FCC and “Trump” blocked them from airing the interview on CBS.
This is the interview Donald Trump didn’t want you to see.
His FCC refused to air my interview with Stephen Colbert.
Trump fears we are about to overthrow Texas. pic.twitter.com/BCev5jZbKc
–James Talarico (@jamestalarico) February 17, 2026
That wasn’t true, as CBS later explained, throwing Talarico and Colbert under the bus. If you’re running for Senate, you need to know the rules and tell the truth about them.
“CBS did not prohibit THE LATE SHOW from airing the interview with Rep. James Talarico. The show received legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC’s equal time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how equal time for other candidates could be respected. THE LATE SHOW decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with an on-air promotion on the show rather than potentially provide equal time options.”
READ MORE: UPDATE: Stephen Colbert Makes Stupid New Censorship Claim; CBS responds
Translation? This was a violation of the equal time rule. They instead decided to air Talarico’s interview on YouTube and not give equal time to the other two Democratic candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett (TX-30). How does any of this involve Trump? Indeed, respecting the equal time rule only offers more Democratic options. But instead, the series decided not to do that and just stick with the Talarico platform.
So Talarico gets to claim victim points, act like Trump is somehow trying to crush him, and probably gets more attention than he ever would have with that claim than he would have gotten by normally being on the show. This, just as early voting begins in Texas, when he is not as well known as Crockett. Look what happened after that little gesture.
James Talarico is having a great time in Texas after the Colbert interview – and according to Google Trends, Texans are now searching for his name at a very high rate, just in time for early voting. pic.twitter.com/gGnDjx5xUM
-Logan Phillips (@LoganR2WH) February 17, 2026
The primary race is extremely close, so this undoubtedly gave Talarico a big boost, and it reduces Crockett’s name recognition bonus.
If Crockett objects and tells the truth, that the FCC didn’t shut them down, then she appears to be defending Trump, which doesn’t help her with the Democrats. This is all rather brilliant.
That said, it looks like Crockett isn’t a happy camper and isn’t going to go quietly.
Colbert has had it in the past, but not since she declared herself in the Senate race, so that’s where the problem lies here.
Crockett says she is still waiting for a statement from Paramount before making an official statement. But what she says she understands at this point is that it wasn’t the FCC that “shut down” [down]“things.
So this promises to get juicier with his next statement.
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