Jimmy Kimmel Bumps the Talarico Interview to YouTube Months After Colbert Was Forced To Do Exactly the Same

For the second time this year, a Democratic Senate candidate's interview has been pushed off network television and onto YouTube, after Jimmy Kimmel said a Federal Communications Commission threat forced his Thursday sit-down with Texas hopeful James Talarico off ABC.

Kimmel announced on Wednesday's 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' that the interview would skip broadcast for the show's YouTube channel, where it posted Thursday. 'Out of consideration for our local stations, especially our ABC affiliates in Texas who would have to deal with this nonsense, my interview tomorrow with James Talarico will not air on television,' he said. He accused President Donald Trump's FCC of threatening the show, the network, and its affiliates over 'guest bookings it would seem they don't like.' YouTube falls outside the agency's reach because it does not use public airwaves.

A Rule Change That Keeps Catching One Candidate

In January, the FCC issued new guidance signalling that daytime and late-night talk shows would no longer be automatically exempt from equal-time rules, which require broadcasters to give rival candidates comparable airtime on request. The reclassification has repeatedly landed on Talarico.

The agency opened an inquiry into his February appearance on ABC's 'The View,' and CBS declined to broadcast an interview he taped for Stephen Colbert that same month. Colbert posted it to YouTube instead.

Why the Texas Seat Could Decide the Senate

Talarico, a 37-year-old former public-school teacher, is running against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in a race that could determine control of the US Senate. The Cook Political Report and the University of Virginia's Centre for Politics both rate it a toss-up.

An August poll by the Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Centre at Texas Southern University put Talarico ahead 47% to 45% among likely voters. Texas has not sent a Democrat to the Senate since 1988.

Days ago, the pro-Trump group MAGA Inc committed $10 million (£7.5 million) to advertising against him ahead of the 3 November election.

The Colbert Playbook Backfired Once

The February blackout did not bury Talarico. His campaign raised $2.5 million (£1.9 million) in the 24 hours after Colbert revealed the interview was pulled, and the clip has drawn more than 9.5 million views on YouTube. CBS disputed Colbert's account, saying it had only asked the show to offer equal time to his opponents.

On Reddit, some users said the ABC blackout would push them to seek out the Kimmel interview they might otherwise have skipped.

White House and FCC Push Back

The White House dismissed Kimmel's account, accusing him of 'play-acting' and pushing an 'egocentric delusion.' The FCC did not respond to requests for comment. Talarico's campaign initially withheld formal comment, but the candidate later blasted the pressure on broadcast media as 'the most dangerous form of cancel culture.'

Whether the strategy protects ABC or amplifies its guest, the pattern is now clear. A federal rule adopted this year keeps deciding where millions of voters can watch one candidate in a Senate race that may tip the chamber, and each time the interview is pushed off the air, more people go looking for it.