Kimmel pulls Democrat’s interview off ABC, blames Trump’s FCC

BS BULLETIN:

Jimmy Kimmel says his interview with Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico will be kept off ABC and shown only on YouTube.
Kimmel blamed what he called threats from President Trump’s FCC and said he was protecting ABC affiliates in Texas.
The unusual move comes as Talarico battles Republican Ken Paxton in one of the country’s most closely watched Senate races.

Jimmy Kimmel is interviewing Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico — but ABC viewers won’t see the interview on television.

Kimmel announced that the conversation would instead appear in its entirety on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! YouTube channel.

And he’s blaming President Donald Trump’s Federal Communications Commission.

“Tomorrow night, I’ll be interviewing James Talarico — tomorrow night, under unusual circumstances,” Kimmel told viewers.

The late-night host noted that he’s interviewed political candidates for more than two decades, including Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz and Trump himself.

But Kimmel claims the situation has changed since Trump returned to the White House.

He accused Trump’s FCC of threatening him, his program, ABC, its affiliates and local stations over what he characterized as ordinary editorial decisions and guest bookings.

Kimmel said the Talarico interview would therefore stay off broadcast television “out of consideration for our local stations,” particularly ABC affiliates in Texas.

“If you want to learn about a candidate for the Senate tomorrow, you’ll have to go to the ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ YouTube channel,” Kimmel said.

The controversy comes at a particularly interesting moment for Talarico.

The Democrat is running against Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in November in a race that could have major implications for control of the U.S. Senate.

Talarico also made news this week by retreating from several of his previous progressive positions.

In an interview with Fox News, he acknowledged he had “missed the mark” with some past statements, including his previous assertion that there were six biological sexes.

Talarico now says there are two sexes. He also said he supports banning gender-transition surgeries for minors and opposes transgender athletes competing in girls’ sports when doing so threatens safety or fairness.

Kimmel’s dispute with the FCC has meanwhile been simmering since his show was briefly suspended in 2025.

He renewed that fight upon returning from summer hiatus this week, directly attacking FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and accusing the commission of using its regulatory power against his program.

Now a Democratic Senate candidate has landed directly in the middle of it.

Instead of appearing before Kimmel’s national ABC television audience, Talarico’s interview is heading to YouTube.

MY QUICK TAKE

So Jimmy Kimmel wants America to know that democracy is in such grave peril that his interview with a Democratic candidate simply cannot be shown on television.

It must be placed on…

YouTube.

The website visited by roughly everyone with a telephone.

Broadcast stations actually do operate under federal equal-time rules involving political candidates. That’s considerably less dramatic than “Trump is silencing me,” but admittedly it makes a lousy monologue.

And somehow James Talarico keeps finding himself in these situations.

First Stephen Colbert’s program put his interview online rather than broadcast it.

Now Kimmel is doing it.

DBS WIRE SOURCES