James Talarico allegedly raised more than $2 million for his U.S. Senate campaign after Stephen Colbert accused CBS of blocking an interview with him. The interview was later uploaded to YouTube and amassed millions of views. Colbert previously said that CBS blocked the interview from airing.
James Talarico’s campaign says they raised $2.5M after controversy
James Talarico’s campaign has claimed that they have raised nearly $2.5 million. This was after his interview with Stephen Colbert was shared on YouTube. Previously, Colbert shared that his network, CBS, blocked an interview with Talarico from airing.
Talarico revealed in a press release that his Senate campaign had raised $2.5 million in the next 24 hours. This was after the “censored” interview.
“This is a campaign of, by, and for the people — so I’m proud that neighbors from all across our state and country stood together to defend free speech,” Talarico said (via Houston Public Media), “This is the most dangerous kind of cancel culture, the kind that comes from the top. A threat to one of our First Amendment rights is a threat to all of our First Amendment rights.”
The 36-year-old was slated to appear on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. During the broadcast, his network’s attorneys had informed him he would not be able to interview Talarico on the broadcast due to guidelines from the FCC.
Colbert conducted the interview with Talarico and released it on YouTube instead. At the time of writing, the video has a massive 7.5 million views.
In a statement read out by Colbert, the host said he “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.”
Crockett said on Tuesday that the decission to not broadcast the interview was made by the network.
