Jasmine Crockett Slams ‘Weaponization’ of FCC After Colbert’s James Talarico Interview Debacle | Video

Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett appeared as a guest on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” Friday, where she called out the Trump administration’s “weaponization” of the FCC. Her comments came after “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert’s decision to post his interview with Texas State Rep. James Talarico on YouTube earlier this week.

Colbert pushed his interview with Talarico to YouTube after explaining on his Monday broadcast that he had been told by CBS lawyers he could not air the segment. The reason cited, which the host said he was also told not to share with his audience, was FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s ongoing enforcement of the equal-time rule. The YouTube post of the interview went on to reach 3 million views in just 18 hours.

Talarico is running for the same senate seat in Texas that Crockett is campaigning right now to fill. Despite that, Crockett used her “Morning Joe” appearance to criticize the Trump administration’s “confusion” tactics. “Even if they are not accomplishing their ultimate goal, by confusing people, it makes people think twice and potentially just not engage,” she explained.

“I think that that’s really what they wanted to do, was to keep people like Colbert from having some of these guests on,” the Texas congresswoman continued.

“I’ve not been invited on Colbert [neither] prior to [Talarico’s] interview, nor post his interview,” Crockett told added when asked further about the FCC’s enforcement of equal-time rules. “Obviously, I’ve done Colbert twice in the past, so there were questions that people had about whether or not basically equal time, so to speak, had been offered to me in order to try to avoid Brendan Carr and his misinterpretation — or his reinterpretation — of the rules.” 

“The only information that I got was after this debacle took place I did receive a phone call from the parent company, from a representative for the parent company, that basically said they did not tell them they couldn’t air it. They just said, ‘If you air it, just make sure that you offer the [other] representative equal time,'” she added. “I cannot confirm the veracity of any statements.”

Crockett also acknowledged that the “debacle” surrounding Talarico’s “Late Show” appearance had given her senatorial opponent a real “boost,” including a reported $2.5 million influx of fundraising in the first 24 hours after his interview with Colbert was posted online. Again, despite that, Crockett called out the Trump administration’s use of the FCC over the past year.

“What we’re seeing is that they are trying to limit free speech, and we know that they also are specifically targeting journalists. They are specifically targeting those late night shows that they don’t like,” Crockett said. The Texas congresswoman pointed to the FREE SPEECH Act of 2025, which she introduced in Washington last year in an attempt to push back on Trump and Carr’s FCC strategy.

“I wanted to make sure that the weaponization that we’re seeing from the FCC could actually be decreased,” she further explained. “They have injected so much confusion, whether we’re talking about the FCC and the new rules or whether we’re talking about voting.” The Texas congresswoman subsequently concluded, “Confusion is the way that they like to lead.”

In its own statement released Tuesday, CBS noted, “‘The Late Show’ was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico. The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled.”

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