Texas Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, raised more than $2 million for his U.S. Senate campaign after his interview with Stephen Colbert was shared on YouTube, his campaign said.
Earlier this week, Colbert accused his network, CBS, of blocking an interview with Talarico from airing during his television broadcast. Talarico stated in a press release that his Senate campaign had raised $2.5 million in the 24 hours “following his censored" interview.
"This is a campaign of, by, and for the people — so I'm proud that neighbors from all across our state and country stood together to defend free speech," Talarico said. "This is the most dangerous kind of cancel culture, the kind that comes from the top. A threat to one of our First Amendment rights is a threat to all of our First Amendment rights."
On Monday, Talarico was set to appear on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS. During the broadcast, Colbert stated that his network's attorneys had informed him he would not be able to interview Talarico on the broadcast, citing guidelines from the Federal Communications Commission.
Instead, Colbert conducted an interview with Talarico and released it on YouTube. That interview had more than 5 million views as of Wednesday morning.
In a statement read by Colbert during his broadcast Tuesday evening, CBS said Colbert "was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico. The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled."
Talarico, a state representative from Austin, is competing against U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas in the March 3 Democratic primary election, in which early voting started Tuesday. The race will determine who will face the winner of the Republican primary, which includes incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston, in the November midterm election.
On Tuesday, Crockett said the interview was not blocked by the FCC, and that decision was reportedly made by the network or The Late Show.
"We did receive information suggesting that the federal government did not shut down this segment, number one," Crockett said. "It is our understanding that ... either Mr. Colbert or CBS decided that they just didn't want to air it. And this was because of a fear that the FCC may say something to them, and that there may have been advice to just have me on, and then they could clear the issue. It was my understanding that someone, somewhere, decided we just don't want to do that."
Crockett has previously appeared on The Late Show twice before, but has not been on the show since announcing her Senate campaign.
Notably, CBS' statement also referred to a third candidate in the race, Ahmad Hassan, who is polling at a distant third place. The latest University of Houston polling from the Hobby School of Public Affairs indicated Hassan polled at 2% of voters, compared to 47% for Crockett and 39% for Talarico.
During The Late Show, Colbert said CBS attorneys cited the FCC’s equal time rule, which requires broadcasters to make commitments of equal time to each of the candidates in an election. One of the exceptions to the equal time rule is for talk shows, like The Late Show, though FCC Chair Brendan Carr has indicated that he wanted to walk back that exception.
Talarico’s critics have noted that the decision not to air his interview with Colbert came from CBS, not the FCC. Representatives for Talarico did not provide a comment regarding his attribution of fault with the Trump administration rather than CBS. Representatives from the FCC have not returned a request for comment.
Paramount, which owns CBS, is in the midst of conversations with the Trump administration about a bid to buy Warner Bros.
KERA’s Dylan Duke contributed to this article.
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