James Talarico blasts Trump FCC’s ‘dangerous’ cancel culture over Kimmel interview ordeal

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James Talarico, the Texas Democratic Senate candidate, says the Trump administration is committing “the most dangerous form of cancel culture” by pressuring TV stations over their content.

Talarico spoke out Thursday ahead of an interview with ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, an outspoken opponent of President Donald Trump.

“Now that he’s president, his FCC has threatened me, threatened our show, threatened our network,” and local stations, Kimmel said on Wednesday’s broadcast.

Kimmel said the threats are “based on simple traditional editorial decisions, guest bookings, it would seem they don’t like.”

As a result, Kimmel said, his planned interview with Talarico will stream only on YouTube, instead of airing on ABC.

The White House hit back by accusing Kimmel of “play-acting” and pushing an “egocentric delusion.”

But it’s pretty clear what’s going on. ABC is adjusting Kimmel’s program due to aggressive actions by Trump’s FCC, led by chairman Brendan Carr.

The media regulator has targeted ABC and its parent company, Disney, in several ways. One method has involved an old rule known as “equal time,” which states that if one candidate for public office gets free airtime on a TV and radio station, the other qualified candidates for that office have an equal opportunity to airtime, too.

In Talarico’s case, the other candidate is Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton.

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The FCC rule contains big exemptions for news coverage, and for the past two decades, that exemption has also been thought to apply to late-night and daytime talk shows. But Carr has been challenging those exemptions — particularly when they involve shows that feature anti-Trump perspectives.

Earlier this year, the FCC opened a probe of ABC’s “The View” over an alleged equal time violation after Talarico appeared on that show during the Democratic primary.

In apparent response to that probe, CBS told late-night host Stephen Colbert that he had to abide by the equal time rules, “something I have never been asked to do for an interview in the 21 years of this job,” he said.

So Colbert moved his interview with Talarico to YouTube, too, and told his viewers all about the controversy.

Kimmel took the same approach, announcing Wednesday night that he would move his Thursday interview to YouTube.

“And thank goodness we have that,” he said, referring to YouTube, “because in the America we live in right now, that is the best that we can do until November.”

YouTube is not subject to FCC regulations because it does not utilize the public airwaves.

Carr has argued that he is enforcing broadcast regulations because the airwaves are a scarce and unique resource. But many critics, including former FCC officials from both parties, have accused him of weaponizing the agency to reward Trump’s allies and punish his critics.

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“There is a pattern here that is clearly designed to get ABC and its programs to only provide content that this administration favors,” the FCC’s sole Democratic commissioner, Anna Gomez, said Thursday night on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.”

Carr did not comment on Thursday. But a White House spokesperson defended him, telling CNN in a statement, “Chairman Carr has not threatened him regarding interviewing James Talarico, or any other candidate. Any media outlet blindly amplifying Kimmel’s egocentric delusion should insist on proof. Of which they will find none.”

Speaking on MS NOW, Talarico called the government’s pressure “the most dangerous form of cancel culture.”

“People at the top, powerful politicians, powerful media executives censoring what we watch, what we read, what we — what we say,” he said. “And that, again, should be a concern to everyone who believes in the First Amendment and believes in the freedom of speech.”

Kimmel’s interview with Talarico will be published on YouTube on Thursday night.

布伦达·巴赞/美联社/档案照片

德克萨斯州民主党参议员候选人詹姆斯·塔拉里科表示，特朗普政府通过向电视台施压，要求其遵守节目内容，这是“最危险的取消文化”。

塔拉里科周四在接受美国广播公司（ABC）深夜脱口秀主持人吉米·坎摩尔（Jimmy Kimmel）采访前发表了讲话，坎摩尔是唐纳德·特朗普总统的公开反对者。

“现在他当上了总统，他的联邦通信委员会威胁了我，威胁了我们的节目，威胁了我们的电视台，”吉米·坎摩尔在周三的节目中说道。

Kimmel表示，这些威胁“似乎是基于一些简单的传统编辑决定和嘉宾预订，他们对此似乎并不满意”。

因此，吉米·坎摩尔表示，他原计划对塔拉里科的采访将只在 YouTube 上播出，而不是在 ABC 电视台播出。

白宫反击称吉米·坎摩尔是在“演戏”，并散布“以自我为中心的妄想”。

但事情的来龙去脉很明显。由于特朗普领导下的联邦通信委员会（FCC）主席布伦丹·卡尔采取了强硬措施，ABC正在调整吉米·坎摩尔的节目。

媒体监管机构已从多个方面对ABC及其母公司迪士尼展开监管。其中一种方法是援引一项名为“平等时间”的旧规则，该规则规定，如果一位公职候选人在电视台和广播电台获得免费播出时间，那么其他符合资格的候选人也应享有同等的播出机会。

塔拉里科的另一位候选人是共和党参议员候选人肯·帕克斯顿。

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美国联邦通信委员会（FCC）的规定对新闻报道做出了诸多豁免，过去二十年来，人们一直认为这些豁免也适用于深夜和日间谈话节目。但卡尔一直在挑战这些豁免，尤其是在涉及反特朗普观点的节目时。

今年早些时候，塔拉里科在民主党初选期间做客ABC电视台的《观点》节目后，美国联邦通信委员会对该节目展开了调查，指控其违反了平等时间规定。

显然是为了回应那次调查，CBS告诉深夜脱口秀主持人斯蒂芬·科尔伯特，他必须遵守平等时间规则，“在我从事这份工作的21年里，从来没有人要求我在采访中遵守这种规则，”他说。

所以科尔伯特也将他对塔拉里科的采访搬到了 YouTube 上，并向他的观众讲述了这场争议的全部经过。

吉米·坎摩尔也采取了同样的做法，他在周三晚上宣布，他将把周四的采访移到 YouTube 上进行。

“谢天谢地我们还有YouTube，”他指的是YouTube，“因为在我们现在生活的美国，在11月之前，这是我们所能做的最好的事情了。”

YouTube 不受 FCC 法规的约束，因为它不使用公共无线电频谱。

卡尔辩称，他之所以执行广播法规，是因为无线电频谱是一种稀缺且独特的资源。但包括两党前联邦通信委员会官员在内的许多批评人士指责他将该机构武器化，以此奖励特朗普的盟友并惩罚批评者。

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“这显然是一种旨在让 ABC 及其节目只提供本届政府喜欢的内容的模式，”联邦通信委员会唯一的民主党委员安娜·戈麦斯周四晚在 CNN 的“Erin Burnett OutFront”节目中说道。

卡尔周四未对此事发表评论。但白宫发言人为他辩护，在一份声明中告诉CNN：“卡尔主席并未威胁他采访詹姆斯·塔拉里科或其他任何候选人。任何盲目传播吉米·坎摩尔以自我为中心的妄想的媒体都应该要求他拿出证据。但他们找不到任何证据。”

塔拉里科在 MS NOW 节目中称政府的压力是“最危险的取消文化形式”。

他说：“那些身居高位的人，那些有权势的政客，那些有权势的媒体高管，都在审查我们看什么、读什么、说什么。而这，再次强调，应该引起所有相信宪法第一修正案和言论自由的人的关注。”

Kimmel对Talarico的采访将于周四晚在YouTube上发布。