Host says lawyers barred him from discussing decision to drop Texas Democrat segment amid FCC rules scrutiny
The talkshow host Stephen Colbert has accused the Trump administration of censoring critics after CBS pulled his interview with a Texas Democrat on Monday, apparently at the behest of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Colbert told viewers of the Late Show that network lawyers told him he was also prohibited from talking about their refusal to air his interview with James Talarico, a Texas state representative seeking his party’s nomination to challenge the Republican incumbent, John Cornyn, for a senate seat in November.
“Because my network clearly doesn’t want us to talk about this, let’s talk about this,” he said, claiming that CBS attorneys were preemptively bowing to “guidance” from the FCC chair, Brendan Carr, to enforce equal air time on a talk show for all candidates in any political race.
“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.”
