FCC Chairman Accuses James Talarico Of Running A Hoax With Kimmel

Senate candidate James Talarico of orchestrating a “hoax” to drive up clicks and donations after an interview between the Democrat and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel was moved off television and onto the internet.

The controversy centers on the FCC’s equal-time rule, which requires broadcasters who feature candidates to provide comparable time to their rivals, if it is requested. For decades, daytime and late-night TV talk shows have operated on the assumption that they were exempt from the rule, and news coverage and news interviews have also been exempt. Furthermore, the rule does not apply to cable or streaming, where the FCC’s authority is limited. But in January, the FCC under Carr, appointed by Donald Trump, issued guidance to broadcasters that TV talk shows actually may not be exempt. Within weeks, the agency launched an investigation of ABC’s The View after it featured Talarico as a guest.

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Writing on X, Carr dismissed the arrangement as a manufactured controversy designed to mislead the public, accusing Talarico of just running the same hoax he did a few months ago on Colbert for the purpose of getting clicks and donations—he’s banking on people not understanding the statute or operating as partisan lemmings.

Carr also posted a meme of Talarico riding on a bicycle on Kimmel’s back before Kimmel puts a stick in the spokes and it crashes to the ground. Carr stated on X, “The Equal Time statute does not prohibit anyone from interviewing anyone on broadcast tv. It is about more speech, not less. Congress wanted to ensure that voters would decide elections, not media gatekeepers picking winners and losers by providing preferential airtime to some candidates and not others. Indeed, when the statute applies, it simply requires broadcast stations to offer comparable time and placement. And comparable does not necessarily mean an interview by the same person on the same program either.”

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Talarico, a Texas state representative locked in a competitive Senate race with Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton, fired back in media appearances, characterizing the regulatory pressure as the most dangerous form of cancel culture and a form of government censorship. He posted the interview to X, calling it the interview Trump’s FCC doesn’t want you to see. During an interview with MS NOW that aired Thursday evening, Talarico said “absolutely” when asked whether he thought he was being censored, stating, “I think it’s the most dangerous form of cancel culture. People at the top, powerful politicians, powerful media executives, censoring what we watch, what we read, what we what we say, and that again should be a concern to everyone who believes in the First Amendment and believes in the freedom of speech.”

Jimmy Kimmel Pulls Segment to Protect Local ABC Affiliates

During Wednesday’s broadcast, Kimmel told viewers that his show would not air his upcoming interview with Texas’ Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico on television, citing the FCC’s guidance. Kimmel said that during the FCC’s enforcement of the equal-time rule, the Federal Communications Commission has threatened me, threatened our show, threatened our network, ABC, our affiliates, our local stations, based on simple, traditional editorial decisions, guest bookings it would seem they don’t like. Kimmel added, Out of consideration for our local stations, especially our ABC affiliates in Texas, who would have to deal with this nonsense, my interview tomorrow with James Talarico will not air on television.

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The digital-only release drew massive internet traffic, mirroring an earlier episode in February when Stephen Colbert posted an interview with Talarico to YouTube, telling viewers that he was warned by network executives about featuring the candidate on the broadcast. CBS said in a February statement that the show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates. Colbert’s interview generated 9.6 million views on YouTube. By Saturday evening, as the Kimmel interview neared 7 million views on YouTube—drawing 6.8 million views as of Saturday evening—the YouTube views were well over the average audience for the actual late-night broadcast.

The friction follows prior administrative clashes involving late-night programming. About a year ago, ABC pulled Kimmel’s show following the comedian’s comments about conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated in September of last year. The show returned nearly a week later, and Kimmel said in his monologue that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. Additionally, the FCC, under Chairman Brendan Carr, announced in April that Disney’s eight local television stations owned and operated by ABC needed to file broadcast license renewals early, and The Walt Disney Co. sued over the decision last month.

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Regulatory Scrutiny and the Political Fallout

The equal-time dispute has divided federal regulators. FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, condemned FCC intimidation in a statement reacting to Kimmel’s announcement, stating, “No host, local affiliate, or network should have to weigh federal retaliation before booking a guest for a newsworthy interview. Any attempt to pressure broadcasters into self-censorship undermines both press freedom and the public’s right to hear from candidates in their communities seeking public office.”

Conversely, on Thursday, a White House spokesperson said that Kimmel was “play acting” to create a false narrative, and that Carr has not threatened him regarding interviewing James Talarico, or any other candidate.

As legal battles between network executives and federal regulators play out, political figures continue to leverage the platform shift, while late-night hosts navigate enforcement threats that Kimmel called an effort to make our editorial decisions for us, which of course we cannot accept.