“More Trust in Gas Station Sushi!” — FCC Chair Brendan Carr BLASTS Legacy Media, Colbert, and Dem Hopeful Talarico for FALSELY Claiming Trump’s FCC BLOCKED TV Interview Over Fears Talarico Could Flip Texas
February 18, 2026
FCC Chair Brendan Carr absolutely eviscerated the fake news peddlers who swallowed hook, line, and sinker a blatant hoax cooked up by late-night comedian Stephen Colbert and far-left Democrat Senate hopeful James Talarico.
Texas Democrat James Talarico apparently teamed up with late-night leftist Stephen Colbert to push a massive, embarrassing HOAX.
The ridiculous claim? That Donald Trump’s FCC supposedly “blocked” a TV interview because they were utterly “worried” Talarico might actually flip the deep-red state of Texas.
In January, The Gateway Pundit reported that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced a crackdown on partisan talk shows in both daytime and late-night in an effort to provide equal treatment for political candidates.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said at the time, “For years, legacy TV networks assumed that their late night & daytime talk shows qualify as “bona fide news” programs – even when motivated by purely partisan political purposes.”
“Today, the FCC reminded them of their obligation to provide all candidates with equal opportunities.”
As a result of the rules, CBS chose not to air an interview between Late Night host Stephen Colbert and Texas Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico on the network.
The interview was instead moved to YouTube, and Colbert was not pleased.
In an effort to look like a free speech warrior, Colbert mentioned Talarico during the show and released a false statement:
Colbert: 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 not having him on.
And because my network clearly doesn’t want us to talk—let’s talk about this. This doesn’t just affect interviews. The rules forbid any candidate appearance, including by voice or picture. That’s right. I am absolutely not allowed to show a photo of Texas State Representative James Talarico.
Because that’s not him—that’s a stock photo we found when we Googled “not James Talarico.”
It was a couple of weeks ago, on Carr’s Orders, the SEC opened an investigation into ABC’s The View after their James Talarico interview. That is absolutely shocking. James Talarico did The View before my show?
So I cannot show you any form of James Talarico. I can’t interview James Talarico. I can’t show any pictures of James Talarico.
I’m not even sure I can say the words “James Talarico.” But what I can show you is what we always show when we have to pull material at the last minute: this tasteful nude of Brendan Carr.
Talarico also posted a clip of the segment, further spreading the lie.
“This is the interview Donald Trump didn’t want you to see. His FCC refused to air my interview with Stephen Colbert. Trump is worried we’re about to flip Texas,” Talarico wrote on X that was viewed 12 million times.
Because of the lie, Talarico announced they raised up to $2.5 million in donations within 24 hours.
In response, CBS said in a statement:
“THE LATE SHOW 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. THE LATE SHOW decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on-air promotion on the broadcast rather than potentially providing the equal-time options.”
More from NBC News:
In a seven-minute monologue, Colbert fired back, reading that statement, then adding: “Now, clearly, this statement was written by, and I’m guessing for, lawyers. Now, I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t want to tell them how to do their jobs, but since they seem intent on telling me how to do mine, here we go.”
Colbert went on to say he was aware they could book other guests and noted that Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, Talarico’s primary opponent for the Democratic nomination for the Senate race in Texas, had been on his show twice. He then noted he obeyed the network’s guidance and put the video on YouTube.
“But here’s where I do want to tell the lawyers how to do their jobs,” Colbert continued. “They know damn well that every word of my script last night was approved by CBS’ lawyers, who, for the record, approve every script that goes on the air, whether it’s about equal time or this image of frogs having sex. That’s a true story, but for another time.”
“Very specifically, and this is never, in fact, between the monologue I did last night and before I did the second act talking about this issue, I had to go backstage,” he said.
“I got called backstage to get more notes from these lawyers, something that had never, ever happened before, and they told us the language they wanted me to use to describe that equal time exception, and I used that language, so I don’t know what this is about,” Colbert said, gesturing toward the statement.
He went on to say he did not want to have an adversarial relationship with CBS, but added: “I’m just so surprised that this giant global corporation would not stand up to these bullies. Come on, you’re Paramount. No, no, no, you’re more than that. You’re Paramount Plus.”
Colbert then finished on a somber but humorous note.
“And for the lawyers to release this without even talking to me is really surprising. I don’t even know what to do with this crap,” Colbert said, before pulling out a bag and picking up the statement as if it were animal excrement.
Chairman Carr just dropped the hammer on Colbert, Talarico, and the entire legacy media apparatus in a brutal, no-holds-barred takedown.
Speaking directly to the press, Carr completely humiliated the journalists who eagerly peddled the fake narrative, calling out the Democrat playbook for exactly what it is.
Carr absolutely eviscerated them:
“You had a Democrat candidate who understood the way that the news media works. He took advantage of all of your prior conceptions to run a hoax, apparently for the purpose of raising money and getting clicks.
The news media played right into it. > I think yesterday was a perfect encapsulation of why the American people have more trust in gas station sushi than they do in the national news media.
This was very plainly an effort ginned up to get clicks and to raise money. You guys ate it up like slop. When it was pointed out that the facts were completely different than what the fake news media was running with, nobody did an about face and did a fact correction.
They just pivoted and moved away. Again, I think this is why the American people simply don’t trust the news media anymore.”
WATCH:
The post “More Trust in Gas Station Sushi!” — FCC Chair Brendan Carr BLASTS Legacy Media, Colbert, and Dem Hopeful Talarico for FALSELY Claiming Trump’s FCC BLOCKED TV Interview Over Fears Talarico Could Flip Texas appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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