The Trump administration’s effort to stop late-night host Stephen Colbert from airing an interview with Texas state Rep. and Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico has instead drawn far more attention to the segment.
CBS attorneys advised against broadcasting the interview during Monday night’s episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Rather than shelving it entirely, Colbert released the full interview on YouTube and other social media platforms. The online rollout quickly attracted millions of views — surpassing the show’s typical television audience of about 2.3 million viewers per episode.
Talarico amplified the reach by posting the interview to his X account with the caption, “This is the interview Donald Trump didn’t want you to see,” where it drew more than 8 million views. On the show’s official YouTube channel, the video accumulated several million additional views, while clips circulating on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook also generated substantial engagement.
During Monday’s broadcast, Colbert referenced the unaired interview and encouraged viewers to watch it online. He also criticized the Federal Communications Commission and its Trump-appointed chair, Brendan Carr, over a new rule requiring late-night talk shows to offer equal time to political candidates from across the ideological spectrum.
In a recently circulated clip, Carr suggested that if hosts such as Colbert or fellow late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel did not wish to comply with the requirement, they could move their programming to cable, streaming services or podcasts. Colbert appeared to take that suggestion to heart, shifting the Talarico interview to digital platforms — a move that ultimately expanded its audience and amplified the controversy surrounding it.
Source: THE NEW REPUBLIC
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