Emma Ruby
Audio By Carbonatix
It might be easy for Texans to forget sometimes, but Lone Star politics is always of great national interest. And that has especially been the case over the past decade, perhaps more than ever. Thanks to the way in which conservative leaders like Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton have become buddies with President Donald Trump and also to the always stacked cast of powerful personalities such as U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, hardly a day goes by when a Texas politician isn’t on the front page of The New York Times, Politico or The Washington Post.
Tuesday morning’s national headlines proved as much with Senate candidate James Talarico’s appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert going viral, as much of the nation was taking its first sips of coffee.
To be more accurate, Talarico appeared on the late-night talk show’s YouTube channel, rather than on the CBS broadcast. That is what has made Talarico, a state rep running in a primary, national news today, at least.
“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,” Colbert said of Talarico during the show that aired on CBS last night. “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.”
Amid raucous laughter, Colbert went on to explain the “equal time rule,” which stipulates that a show airing on radio or broadcast television can not give only one candidate in a specific race a chance to appear on a given show. He also poked fun at FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who waged a public battle with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel in 2025.
The FCC rule, however, doesn’t apply to a show’s YouTube page. Since being posted around midnight, Colbert’s interview with Talarico has already been viewed barely 500,000 times on YouTube alone, while clips from the chat are going viral on Instagram, X and Reddit as well.
The 15-minute interview covered much of the same ground that the average Texas news follower is likely familiar with by now, including Talarico’s childhood, the often silly reality of the Texas Legislature and his views as a Christian in an era where Christian nationalism dominates the opposition party.
Colbert, who’s run as The Late Show host will end in May, pulled no punches in getting to what he sees as the real reason behind his Talarico interview being pulled from the traditional broadcast.
“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, OK?” Colbert said. “He’s like a toddler with too much screen time. He gets cranky and then drops a load in his diaper.”
