Jimmy Kimmel‘s interview with James Talarico was posted to YouTube on Thursday evening rather than the late-night host’s ABC broadcast amid concerns over an FCC enforcement action.
“Why are they so scared of you?” Kimmel asked Talarico at the outset of the 20 minute interview, noting that Stephen Colbert also posted a sit down with the Texas U.S. Senate candidate in February over concerns it would invoke the the rule.
“They are worried that we’re going to win this race in Texas,” Talarico said. “But we are the underdogs until the last vote is counted.”
For decades, daytime and late night TV talk shows have operated on the assumption that they were exempt from the FCC’s equal time rule, which requires broadcasters who feature candidates to provide comparable time to their rivals, if it is requested.
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But in January, the FCC under chairman Brendan Carr, appointed by Donald Trump, issued guidance to broadcasters that TV talk shows may not be exempt, a move that critics saw as a regulatory effort to crackdown on daytime and late-night hosts the president does not like. Weeks later, the FCC started an investigation of The View after it featured Talarico as a guest. The equal time rule includes an exemption for news coverage and news interviews.
ABChas pushed back against the FCC’s actions, releasing a 2002 letter from the FCC affirming that The View was exempt. The network also has argued that the FCC is selectively enforcing the rule, as its January guidance did not address talk radio, where conservative hosts routinely feature political candidates, including Talarico’s Republican opponent, Ken Paxton.
Kimmel opened his interview by noting that, until recently, the FCC has long recognized that late-night talk shows have been exempt, pointing to Donald Trump’s guest spots.
“When he was running, he was on the show two times, but now I guess he doesn’t like me anymore, or the First Amendment, and so the FCC has threatened me or threaten my show, our network, even our local ABC stations, because they want to make our editorial decisions for us, which of course we cannot accept,” Kimmel said. “And so tonight we’re bypassing the public airwaves and hosting this YouTube interview on YouTube, even though our government would clearly prefer that we not do it at all.” The FCC does not regulate streaming platforms.
In a statement on Kimmel earlier on Thursday, a White House spokesman claimed that Kimmel was creating “a false narrative about this administration’s policies.”
“Chairman Carr has not threatened him regarding interviewing James Talarico, or any other candidate,” a spokesperson said.
Carr has not commented, but previously said that the TV talk shows are free to feature political candidates, but they may be on the hook to offer time to their competitors. He also suggested that the Colbert interview was a publicity stunt designed to drive up fundraising for Talarico.
In his monologue on the Jimmy Kimmel Live TV broadcast, Kimmel challenged the White House’s statement. He told the audience that he would be interviewing Talarico but viewers would not see it. He called the threat of FCC action “yet another attack on free speech, something that is all too familiar for the show for us.” Kimmel also said that he would “love” to interview Paxton, but the rule would not just apply to Talarico’s GOP rival. “Our affiliates in Texas would have to give equal time to as many candidates as there are on the ballot. There’s about 10 candidates on the ballot,” Kimmel said. ABC’s legal team has argued that offering all candidates such time is untenable.
The interview was otherwise a pretty standard sitdown for Talarico, giving him the opportunity to repeat some of his campaign themes, including how his life has been shaped by religion and Jesus Christ.
It was also clear that Kimmel was a fan of Talarico, and he even ran a portion of one of his campaign ads.
He said, “I’ve been following you for a long time. I’ve been watching your videos. I think what you’re doing is great. I really do. … You hit on something that used to be on all of the bumper stickers. ‘What would Jesus do?’ I think Jesus has been co-opted by this MAGA enterprise in this way. It makes no sense when you really think about it. Would Jesus be throwing people into vans and separating them from their children? Would Jesus be taking kids off food stamps? … This is not the Jesus that I learned about growing up. And you bring it right back to the Bible, to the real teachings of Jesus, and it is it is very authentic.”
If the past is any guide, the Kimmel interview may ultimately draw more attention that Talarico would have gotten via a standard broadcast. His interview with Colbert has drawn 9.5 million views on YouTube, far more than the show’s average.
