The Trump threat looming over late-night TV, briefly explained
This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here.
Welcome to The Logoff: The Trump administration is mucking about with late-night TV again.
What happened? On Monday night, comedian Stephen Colbert, who hosts CBS’s late-night talk show The Late Show, said he had been barred by CBS lawyers from airing an interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico over concerns about a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rule.
Late-night shows have long been considered exempt from something called the equal-time rule, which requires equal airtime for candidates contending for the same office. Last month, however, the Trump administration announced that it would begin to enforce the rule. (The Late Show did post Colbert’s Talarico interview on YouTube, where the show isn’t subject to the same restrictions; it’s racked up more than 2.7 million views as of Tuesday evening.)
Talarico is currently facing Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary, which will take place next month (though early voting began today). Whoever wins will face the Republican nominee in November in a long-shot bid to flip a Republican Senate seat currently held by Sen. John Cornyn.
What’s the context? President Donald Trump has long had it out for America’s late-night hosts. Most notably, his administration intervened last year to briefly force the comedian Jimmy Kimmel, who hosts ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, off the air for Kimmel’s comments regarding the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Trump also celebrated CBS’s decision last year to cancel Colbert’s Late Show after its current season, writing that “his talent was even less than his ratings.” CBS has defended the cancellation, which occurred shortly after its parent company settled with the Trump administration for $16 million, as a financial decision.
Why does this matter? The FCC’s newfound passion for equal-time rules is transparently partisan, and it clearly has teeth — in addition to Kimmel’s suspension last year, the agency is reportedly investigating whether ABC’s The View violated the same equal-time rule by interviewing Talarico earlier this month.
And with that, it’s time to log off…
Have you, like me, been hearing so, so much about the new “Wuthering Heights” film? (Mind the quotation marks, which are in fact part of the title.) Do you also want to know what’s going on, perhaps without spending several hours in the theater? Vox’s Constance Grady has you covered with her new, scathing, informative review — you can read it here. Have a great evening, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!