In January,The Gateway Pundit reportedthat the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced a crackdown on partisan talk shows in both daytime and late-night in an effort to provide equal treatment for political candidates.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said at the time, “For years, legacy TV networks assumed that their late night & daytime talk shows qualify as “bona fide news” programs – even when motivated by purely partisan political purposes.”
“Today, the FCC reminded them of their obligation to provide all candidates with equal opportunities.”
For years, legacy TV networks assumed that their late night & daytime talk shows qualify as “bona fide news” programs – even when motivated by purely partisan political purposes.
Today, the FCC reminded them of their obligation to provide all candidates with equal opportunitiespic.twitter.com/sWiQmqQHCq
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC)January 21, 2026
As a result of the rules, CBS chose not to air an interview between Late Night host Stephen Colbert and Texas Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico on the network.
The interview was instead moved to YouTube, and Colbert was not pleased.
In an effort to look like a Free Speech warrior, Colbert mentioned Talarico during the show and said, “He was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast.”
“Then, then I was told in some uncertain terms that not only could I not have him on, I could not mention me not having him on. And because my network clearly doesn’t want us to talk about this, let’s talk about this.”
Source: The Gateway Pundit
