Backlash Grows Against Colbert After ‘Hoax’ Accusation Against CBS Leads To $2.5 Million Fundraising Haul for Texas Democrat Talarico

Backlash is growing against the host of CBS’s “The Late Show,” Stephen Colbert, and a Democrat running for Senate in Texas, James Talarico, who raised $2.5 million in the 24 hours after making the dramatic claim that the network censored his interview. The outrage began on Monday night after Mr. Colbert claimed that CBS blocked him from airing the interview on the network, only allowing him to publish it on YouTube, and told him he could not promote it, citing concerns about the FCC’s equal time rule. But on Tuesday, CBS denied that it blocked the interview and said it gave its soon-to-be former late-night host legal guidance – but not a mandate – on how to avoid running afoul of the equal time rule, such as inviting on Mr. Talarico’s primary opponent, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. Mr. Colbert fired back, saying he is “well aware” that he could have invited Ms. Crockett on, but chose not to (Ms. Crockett has been on the show multiple times), and then criticized CBS and its lawyers.The equal time rule requires that if a broadcast network interviews a candidate for office, it must provide the same amount of time to that candidate’s opponents. While the FCC has refrained from taking action to enforce the rule for late-night and daytime talk shows, frustration has grown on the right with how major daytime and late-night shows such as Mr. Colbert’s “Late Show,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” and “The View” almost never book conservatives, are overtly political, and routinely denounce and mock President Trump.In January, the FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, said in January that he is considering applying the rule to those programs as well. While Mr. Carr has not formally changed the rule, CBS appears to be thinking proactively. As CBS pushed back on their claim, Mr. Colbert and Mr. Talarico kept promoting the narrative that the interview was spiked due to the FCC and fear of the Trump Administration taking action against the network. Mr. Talarico appeared on MS NOW and said it should be “troubling to all of us that the most powerful politicians and corporate executives are working together to sell out the First Amendment.”And Wednesday morning, the Talarico campaign announced that in the 24 hours since his interview with Mr. Colbert was posted, it had raked in a whopping $2.5 million.“BREAKING: Our campaign raised $2.5 million in 24 hours after the FCC banned our Colbert interview,” Mr. Talarico wrote on X.The fundraising figure has led some commentators to accuse Mr. Talarico and Mr. Colbert of lying about what happened with the interview to create buzz around the Senate hopeful.A conservative X account, Leftism, wrote, “You raised money off of lies, and have the audacity to continue pushing those lies. CBS didn’t even tell The Late Show that they couldn’t air your interview. They simply offered legal guidance for how Stephen Colbert could provide equal airtime to the other DEMOCRAT candidates who you are running against.”“The FCC was never involved at any point,” the post said. “You and Colbert seem to have colluded and worked together to push a false narrative to help you gain popularity instead of bothering to give the other candidates equal airtime.”A conservative commentator, Kevin Dalton, wrote, “Your campaign raised 2.5 million in 24 hours after lying about the FCC banning your Colbert interview.”The Washington bureau chief for the Daily Wire, Tim Rice, wrote, “Wow, who knew fabricating a censorship scandal in cahoots with an embittered partisan TV hack could be so profitable!”Other commentators criticized Mr. Talarico — a Presbyterian seminarian — for claiming that the FCC censored his interview, in which he criticized conservative Christian politicians. “The shamelessness with which this guy lies really undercuts that whole ‘I’m a preacher’ schtick,” one user said. “Baldfaced liar who carries the name of Christ,” another user said. Another user shared a meme that read, “Lying about an FCC ban to raise campaign money,” followed by the question, “Is this what a Christian should be?”During a press conference on Wednesday, Mr. Carr denied that he interfered to block the interview, but he said he was “highly entertained” by the “hoax” that the FCC was responsible for the interview not being broadcast on CBS. He also criticized the media for promoting the narrative that the network was trying to censor the interview. Ms. Crockett also told reporters that she does not believe the government censored the interview, saying, “We did receive information suggesting that the federal government did not shut down this segment.”The Talarico campaign did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication. CBS did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication.

Backlash Grows Against Colbert After ‘Hoax’ Accusation Against CBS Leads To $2.5 Million Fundraising Haul for Texas Democrat Talarico

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