Texas state Rep. James Talarico announced that his campaign raised $2.5 million in the 24 hours following his canceled Tuesday appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” marking the Senate hopeful’s largest single-day fundraising period of his campaign.
Mr. Colbert told his audience that CBS had blocked an interview with Mr. Talarico, who is running in the March 3 Democratic primary to flip the seat held by GOP Sen. John Cornyn, from airing.
The late-night host said his network’s lawyers forbade Mr. Talarico from appearing on the broadcast, so CBS instead said it placed the interview on its YouTube channel with an on-air promotion.
Network executives warned that broadcasting the interview might trigger the Federal Communications Commission’s rule for those vying for public office to receive equal time on late-night and daytime talk shows. They would include Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Mr. Talarico’s Democratic primary opponent.
Mr. Colbert mocked guidance issued this year by FCC Chair Brendan Carr.
The decision was immediately slammed as censorship, but now Mr. Talarico is reaping the benefits.
“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,” he said in a statement. “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.”
As of Wednesday morning, the YouTube segment has garnered more than 5 million views. Mr. Colbert urged his viewers to watch it, pointing out that blocking the interview may have boosted its reach.
“We obeyed our network and put the interview on YouTube, where it’s gotten millions of views,” he said. “I wish we could have put it on the show, where no one would have watched it.”
Mr. Talarico’s spokesperson posted a now-viral graph to social media showing Google searches of the candidate’s name spiking dramatically.
• Mary McCue Bell can be reached at mbell@washingtontimes.com.
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