WASHINGTON — Texas Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico raised $2.5 million for his campaign in the first 24 hours after the CBS “Late Show” nixed airing his interview with host Stephen Colbert.
The state legislator’s team boasted that the haul amid the controversy over Monday’s episode was the “single largest fundraising day of his entire campaign.”
“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 crowed in a statement.
“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.”
Colbert, 61, who is famous for his comedic crusades against the Trump administration and unabashed Democratic politics, claimed that the Tiffany Network’s lawyers told him in “some uncertain terms, that not only could I not have [Talarico] on, I could not mention me not having him on.”
CBS flatly denied their lame-duck late-night host’s version of events Tuesday, insisting: “‘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 [Federal Communications Commission] equal-time rule … and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled.”
“‘The Late Show’ decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on-air promotion on the broadcast rather than potentially providing the equal-time options.”
Talarico is facing Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) in a hotly contested primary March 3. Under the equal-time rule, Colbert would have been obligated to have Crockett on the show, as well as, potentially, Republican primary candidates.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has denied any involvement in the controversy, and Crockett said Tuesday that her understanding was “the federal government did not shut down the segment.”
“It is our understanding that either Mr. Colbert or CBS decided” not to put the Talarico interview on TV, the congresswoman told reporters, “because of a fear that the FCC may say something to them and that there may have been advice to just have me on and then they could clear the [equal-time] issue.
“It was my understanding that someone, somewhere decided, ‘We just don’t want to do that. Instead, we’re going to just do it this way.’”
Later Tuesday, Crockett acknowledged that the controversy “probably gave my opponent the boost he was looking for.”
“I think it’s probably better that [Talarico] didn’t get on and that they went straight to streaming,” she told MS NOW. “Because we know that when we resist and when we know that it seems like they’re trying to change the rules and bend the knee to this president, that it backfires in historic fashion.”
Crockett, 44, has appeared on Colbert’s show twice — in October 2024 and May 2025 — before announcing her Senate run this past December.
Colbert bashed his bosses during Tuesday night’s “Late Show” episode, insisting that “without ever talking to me, the corporation put out this press release.”
He then claimed that CBS’ legal team approved “every word of Monday night’s script,” but following his monologue, he was summoned “backstage to get more notes from these lawyers — something that had never, ever happened before.”
“For the record, I’m not even mad. I really don’t want an adversarial relationship with the network,” Colbert added. “I’m grateful to have worked at CBS for the last 11 years.”
“I’m just so surprised that this giant global corporation would not stand up to these bullies.”
Colbert’s final show is slated for May 21.
The show’s cancellation was announced in July 2025 amid speculation that CBS parent company Paramount Skydance is treating the Trump administration with kid gloves, most recently as it attempts to buy Warner Bros. Discovery.
Meanwhile, some Democratic operatives are nervous that if Crockett wins the primary, it could cost the party a rare Senate pickup opportunity should Lone Star State AG Ken Paxton knock off incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in the GOP contest.
The latest RealClearPolitics aggregate of polls shows Crockett and Talarico in a flat-footed tie at 41% apiece, a result that would force a runoff May 26.
