Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is telling supporters his interview with Jimmy Kimmel was “banned” by the Trump administration’s Federal Communications Commission. The record shows something different: it was ABC, not any government agency, that kept the interview off broadcast television.
Kimmel announced the change on his show, saying the interview would not air on TV but would instead be posted to YouTube. “And so, 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. It will be posted on YouTube instead. It will not be on TV,” Kimmel said.
That statement points to the network’s concern over the FCC’s equal-time rule, which requires broadcasters to give competing candidates comparable airtime once one is granted it. Airing an interview with a candidate in an active race raises exactly the kind of obligation ABC affiliates would rather avoid. There is no indication the FCC ordered, blocked, or otherwise intervened to stop the broadcast.
Talarico has framed it differently. “Watch my banned interview with Jimmy Kimmel on YouTube,” he posted, along with the claim that “This is the interview Trump’s FCC doesn’t want you to see.” He also wrote, “We’re not just going up against the most corrupt politician in Texas. We’re going up against this entire corrupt system.”
This is not the first time Talarico has used the word “banned” to describe a talk-show appearance that didn’t air on broadcast television. A similar episode occurred earlier this year involving an interview with Stephen Colbert.
Acosta wades in, gets the comparison wrong
CNN’s Jim Acosta amplified the claim, asking, “Ted Cruz was just on the View and Talarico can’t go on Kimmel. How is that appropriate? Honest question YOU should answer.”
The comparison doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. Senator Ted Cruz is not currently a candidate in an election cycle, so the equal-time rule that concerns ABC’s affiliates doesn’t apply to his appearances the way it would to Talarico’s, given Talarico is running for Senate in a race less than 60 days out.
For readers who care about the actual meaning of censorship and government overreach, the distinction matters. A private broadcaster choosing not to air content because of a regulatory compliance headache is a business decision, not a First Amendment violation, and it’s not the same thing as a government agency suppressing speech. Conflating the two erodes the language people need when a genuine case of government censorship does arise.
The interview itself remains publicly available on YouTube — hardly evidence of suppression, banned or otherwise.
Add comment