Don’t mess with Texas … voters who care about the First Amendment — or “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
On Wednesday’s episode of MS NOW’s “Morning Joe,” host Joe Scarborough argued that one of the main reasons why state Rep. James Talarico defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett in Texas’ Democratic primary for Senate was because he gained a whole lot of visibility after his “Late Show” controversy.
Last month, Talarico and Colbert said the Federal Communications Commission “colluded” with CBS executives to keep an interview he did on the “Late Show” off the air.
This is not the first time Colbert has clashed with his network’s overlords and the President Donald Trump-appointed FCC Chair Brendan Carr. Last year, CBS announced that it would cancel “The Late Show” in May 2026 after Colbert ripped CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, for settling a lawsuit with the president — a move critics felt threatened freedom of speech.
“I swear, I just wish these Republicans weren’t so stupid. I wish they’d listen to me. I’m trying to help them out a little bit here, just to make it a fair fight in the fall,” Scarborough said Wednesday of Talarico winning Texas’ Democratic Senate primary. “But what did we say? What did we say? First of all, when they took Colbert off the air? You’re going to pay for it. They did pay for it with ‘South Park’ three or four days later, deciding they’re going to lean in even harder. Right?”
