CBS Should Not Bend the Knee to Trump — It Always Backfires

On MS NOW’s “The Briefing” Tuesday, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) said CBS should not have knelt to the Trump administration by telling “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert that they would not air his Monday interview with Texas state Rep. James Talarico because of the Federal Communications Commission’s equal time rule.

Host Jen Psaki said, “In CBS’ statement about what happened with the Colbert Show last night, they fact-checked you. I mean, they said the show received legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC’s equal time rule for two other candidates, including Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. What do you think of that explanation?”

Crockett said, “We actually received a phone call and it was a little bit earlier today. And in that call, they explained that they had told CBS that they could go ahead and move forward with the James Talarico interview, they just needed to offer me equal time. I didn’t get a request from the Colbert show to continue. As you know, I’ve been on Colbert several times, and frankly, if we had had an offer, that would have been great but we’re in the middle of early voting, so I’m kind of focused on being in Texas right now and, you know, I don’t know what to believe, that’s for sure, but I got this phone call while I was talking to voters.

She continued, “We haven’t had any problems. I mean, we’ve never had any problems with Colbert. And even though you talked about ‘The View,’ you know, apparently this FCC complaint came about because I had more time than Mr. Tallarico when I went there, after I declared my candidacy. So, you know, look, I’ll tell you I have no love for Bari Weiss. I have no love for Brendan Carr. But I think that, As you also mentioned, Kimmel, it’s important that we resist at this time. And so a number of options could be put on the table and frankly, you know, “The Late Show” decided that that was the option.

Crockett added: “I mean, look what happened when they tried to stream CECOT. We found out that you could get a lot more views. So I think that probably gave away to my opponent that ABC was after us. So I think it’s probably better that he didn’t tune in and they went straight to streaming because we know when we resist and when we know that, it seems like they’re trying to change the rules and to kneel, or to be kneeling before this president and it turns against him, historical fashion.

Follow Pam Key on X @pamkeyNEN