Letâs make this clip be the most popular Stephen Colbert clip ever.
Christina LoreyÂ
âYou know you know who is not one of my guests tonight? Thatâs Texas State Representative James Talarico,â Colbert started off. âHe was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our networkâs lawyers who called us directly that we could not have him on the broadcast. Then I was told in some uncertain terms that, not only could I not have him on, I could not mention me not having him on. And because my network clearly doesnât want us to talk about this, letâs talk about this.â
He continued: âSo, youâve you might have heard of this thing called the equal time rule. Itâs an old FCC rule that applies only to radio and broadcast television, not cable or streaming, that says if a show has a candidate on during an election, they have to have all that candidatesâ opponents on as well. Itâs the FCCâs most time honored rule right after no nipples at the Super Bowl.â
As Colbert continued, he explained that there has âlong been an exception for this rule,â especially for talk show interviews with politicians.
âBut on January 21st of this year, a letter was released by FCC chairman and smug bowling pin Brendan Carr,â Colbert added. âIn this letter, Carr said he was thinking about dropping the exception for talk shows because he said some of them were motivated by partisan purposes. Well, sir, youâre chairman of the FCC. So, FCCU, because I think you are motivated by partisan purposes yourself, sir. Hey, you smelt it cuz you dealt it.â
Colbert then pivoted to Trump and his censorship quest: âHeâs like a toddler with too much screen time. He gets cranky and then drops a load in his diapers. So, itâs no surprise that two of the people most affected by this threat are me and my friend Jimmy Kimmel.â
Colbert then said that he still interviewed Talarico, and that the full conversation is on YouTube.
âThe network says I canât give you URL or a QR code, but I promise you if you go to our YouTube page, youâll find it,â he said.
















