Colbert Rants At Carr After CBS Forbids Interview With Texas Senate Candidate

Alex Christy
February 17th, 2026 9:55 AM

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The Late Show host Stephen Colbert angrily denounced FCC chairman Brendan Carr after CBS told him that he could not interview Texas State Rep. and Senate candidate James Talarico for his Monday show. Colbert accused Carr and President Trump of trying to silence him but ultimately ended up interviewing Talarico anyway and put the video up on YouTube. Beyond the FCC, the main purpose of the Talarico interview was to denounce conservatives as being bad Christians.

Colbert began by lamenting, “You know who is not one of my guests tonight? That's Texas State Representative James Talarico. 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, 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 does not want us to talk about this, let's talk about this.”

 

 

After explaining the equal time rule, Colbert continued, “There's long been an exemption for this rule, an exception for news interviews and talk show interviews with politicians…On January 21st, a letter was released by FCC Chairman and smug bowling pin, Brendan Carr. In this letter, Carr said he was thinking about dropping the exception for talk shows because he said some of them were 'motivated by partisan purposes.’ Well, sir, you're chairman of the FCC, so FCC you.”

Colbert also huffed, “I think you are motivated by partisan purposes yourself. Sir, ya smelt it 'cause ya dealt it. You are Dutch-ovening America's airwaves. Let's just call this what it is. Donald Trump's administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV. Because all Trump does is watch TV. Okay? He's like a toddler with too much screen time. He gets cranky and then drops a load in his diaper.”

Ironically, the election in this controversy is the Democratic primary, so the person who benefits most from this is not Donald Trump, incumbent John Cornyn, or his challenger, state AG Ken Paxton, but the left’s favorite congresswoman, Jasmine Crockett.

As for the YouTube interview, it was as partisan as any other Colbert interview. He began by asking, “It's not the first time you've caused some drama. 'FCC opening probe into The View after appearance by Talarico.' Do you mean to cause trouble?"

Talarico echoed Colbert’s earlier remarks:

Stephen, this is the party that ran against cancel culture, and now they're trying to control what we watch, what we say, what we read, and this is the most dangerous kind of cancel culture, the kind that comes from the top. They went after The View because I went on there, they went after Jimmy Kimmel for telling a joke they didn't like. They went after you for telling the truth about Paramount's bribe to Donald Trump. Corporate. Corporate, corporate media executives are selling out the First Amendment to curry favor with corrupt politicians, and a threat to any of our First Amendment rights is a threat to all of our First Amendment rights.

Colbert did remind everyone that CBS’s official position is that cancelling The Late Show “was a purely financial decision.” However, it is almost five months since Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension and the left is still pretending he was briefly taken off the air because of a joke instead of a gross factual inaccuracy.

 

 

As it was, the real reason Talarico was on was so that Colbert could ask:

Some of the videos I've seen you do, and one of the things that's gotten you attention out there, is that you are a Presbyterian seminarian… the right attempts to co-opt Christianity to say that, you know, you can't, you can't believe in God…I think that Donald Trump might have said something like that at the National Prayer Breakfast, like you can't actually be a Christian and be a Democrat, but the religious right is a—it's a largely a political movement that references spirituality, but it's a political—what do you, what is your, what is your heartfelt hand out to the people who want to use religion as a tool of political power?

Again, Talarico was happy to parrot Colbert’s agenda, “Well, for 50 years, the religious right, a political movement that is the perfect description for it, they convinced a lot of our fellow Christians that the most important issues were abortion and gay marriage, two issues that aren't mentioned in the Bible, two issues that Jesus never talked about...Nothing about going to church, nothing about voting Republican. It was all about how you treat other people.”

 

 

Despite spending the whole interview attacking conservatives for equating conservatism with Christianity, Talarico asserted his liberalism is the definition of loving your neighbor, “Love thy neighbor regardless of race or gender or sexual orientation or immigration status or religious affiliation, and it's why I have fought so hard for the separation of church and state in the state capitol in Texas.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Talarico would claim that being a good Christian in public life also means campaigning against public displays of the Ten Commandments. Meanwhile, to highlight how absurd the cries of censorship are, on Wednesday, Colbert will interview Democratic Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff and will be unaffected by the equal time rule.

Here is a transcript for the February 16 show:

CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

2/16/2025

11:55 PM ET

STEPHEN COLBERT: And you know who is not one of my guests tonight? That's Texas State Representative James Talarico. 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, 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 does not want us to talk about this, let's talk about this.

You probably heard—so, you might have heard of this thing called the equal time rule. It's an old FCC rule that applies only to radio and broadcast television—not cable or streaming—that says if a show has a candidate on during an election, they have to have all that candidate's opponents on as well. It's the FCC's most time-honored rule, right after "No nipples at the Super Bowl."

There's long been an exemption for this rule, an exception for news interviews and talk show interviews with politicians. Now, that's crucial. How else were voters supposed to know back in '92 that Bill Clinton sucked at saxophone? But on January 21st, a letter was released by FCC Chairman and smug bowling pin, Brendan Carr. In this letter, Carr said he was thinking about dropping the exception for talk shows because he said some of them were "motivated by partisan purposes." Well, sir, you're chairman of the FCC, so FCC you.

'Cause I think. Because I think you are motivated by partisan purposes yourself. Sir, ya smelt it 'cause ya dealt it. You are Dutch-ovening America's airwaves. Let's just call this what it is. Donald Trump's administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV. Because all Trump does is watch TV. Okay? He's like a toddler with too much screen time. He gets cranky and then drops a load in his diaper.

***

YouTube The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

2/16/2025

STEPHEN COLBERT: I don't usually say this to a guest, but if people are watching this right now, it's ‘cause they found us online, on YouTube. I did an act of the show that's on tonight explaining why. It's not the first time you've caused some drama. “FCC opening probe into The View after appearance by Talarico.” Do you mean to cause trouble?

JAMES TALARICO: I do. I think that Donald Trump is worried that we're about to flip Texas. And Stephen, this is the party that ran against cancel culture, and now they're trying to control what we watch, what we say, what we read, and this is the most dangerous kind of cancel culture, the kind that comes from the top.

They went after The View because I went on there, they went after Jimmy Kimmel for telling a joke they didn't like. They went after you for telling the truth about Paramount's bribe to Donald Trump. Corporate. Corporate, corporate media executives are selling out the First Amendment to curry favor with corrupt politicians, and a threat to any of our First Amendment rights is a threat to all of our First Amendment rights.

COLBERT: So, I'm just to fact-check you, to fact-check you, my network said our cancellation was a purely financial decision.

TALARICO: Got it, got it.

COLBERT: And I remain very grateful for the last 11 years.

…

COLBERT: One of the things that's come up in some of the conversations you've had on the Texas State House floor, which some of the videos I've seen you do, and one of the things that's gotten you attention out there, is that you are a Presbyterian seminarian. Presently? Are you a seminarian?

TALARICO: Yes. Yes.

COLBERT: Okay. Okay, the right attempts to co-opt Christianity to say that, you know, you can't, you can't believe in God, you can't believe in God. I think that Donald Trump might have said something like that at the National Prayer Breakfast, like you can't actually be a Christian and be a Democrat, but the religious right is a—it's a largely a political movement that references spirituality, but it's a political—what do you, what is your, what is your heartfelt hand out to the people who want to use religion as a tool of political power?

TALARICO: Well, for 50 years, the religious right, a political movement that is the perfect description for it, they convinced a lot of our fellow Christians that the most important issues were abortion and gay marriage, two issues that aren't mentioned in the Bible, two issues that Jesus never talked about. Jesus in Matthew 25 tells us exactly how you and I and every one of our fellow believers, how we're gonna be judged and how we're gonna be saved: by feeding the hungry, by healing the sick, by welcoming the stranger. Nothing about going to church, nothing about voting Republican. It was all about how you treat other people. Don't, don't.

I've said, I've said before, don't tell me what you believe, show me how you treat other people and I'll tell you what you believe. And I think in our faith, we've got to get back to those fundamentals. My granddad was a Baptist preacher in South Texas, and when I was little, he told me that Christianity is a simple religion, not an easy religion, he would always clarify, but a simple religion because Jesus gave us two commandments: love God and love neighbor.

And there was no exception to that second commandment. Love thy neighbor regardless of race or gender or sexual orientation or immigration status or religious affiliation, and it's why I have fought so hard for the separation of church and state in the state capitol in Texas, because—

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