After Stephen Colbert claimed that CBS lawyers blocked The Late Show from airing an interview with James Talarico — a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Texas — for fear the network would meet the displeasure of the Federal Communications Commission, FCC chair Brendan Carr downplayed the controversy.
During the agency’s press conference on Wednesday, Carr insisted there was “zero censorship with the equal time provision.” “You had a Democrat candidate who understood the way that the news media works, and he took advantage of all of your sort of prior conceptions to run a hoax, apparently for the purpose of raising money and getting clicks,” Carr told reporters.
On Monday night’s episode of The Late Show, Colbert alleged that the FCC has begun cracking down on liberal-leaning broadcasters under the guise of enforcing the “equal time” rule. The so-called equal time rule requires broadcast and radio stations to offer “equal opportunities” to political candidates running against each other. However, there have historically been exceptions to the rule, including talk shows like The Late Show, as well as documentaries, on-the-spot interviews, and scheduled newscasts. Under Carr’s leadership, the FCC has moved to strip those protections from liberal-leaning broadcast outlets, while exempting other broadcasts like right-wing talk radio.
While the interview with Talarico did not make it on air, Colbert announced that their conversation would instead be distributed on the show’s YouTube channel. In a statement to CNN, CBS claimed that they had not prohibited Colbert from airing the interview. “The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett,” the broadcaster said, adding that The Late Show decided to post the interview on social media “rather than potentially providing the equal-time options.”
Amid Carr’s claims of “zero censorship,” the FCC chair also confirmed that the commission has started a probe into The View‘s alleged violations of equal time rules. Earlier this month, reports surfaced that Carr had opened an investigation into ABC’s long-running panel show after it hosted Talarico for an interview.
“Disney has a program called The View. And they’ve been asserting the position that The View is what is known as ‘bona fide news’ in the statute,” Carr said when popping on FOX News Channel’s The Ingraham Angle on Wednesday night. “If you are bona fide news, you don’t have to give candidates equal air time. But, Disney and The View have not established that that program is, in fact, bona fide news. We’ve started enforcement proceedings, taking a look at that. And, again, we’re going to hold broadcasters accountable.”
