James Talarico Reacts To Blocking Of His Interview With Stephen Colbert: 'The Most Dangerous Kind Of Cancel Culture'

State Rep. James Talarico reacted to the blocking of his interview with talk show host Stephen Colbert on CBS, rejecting that the decision was a result of FCC "guidance" about enforcing equal air time for candidates in the same political race as him.

In a statement on Tuesday, Talarico said it was the Trump administration who blocked the airing of the interview: "This is the party that ran against cancel culture, and now they are trying to control what we watch, what we say, and what we read."

"This is the most dangerous kind of cancel culture — the kind that comes from the top. Corporate media executives are selling out the First Amendment to curry favor with corrupt politicians. A threat to any of our First Amendment rights is a threat to all of our First Amendment rights," he added.

Colbert addressed the development on his show, detailing that network lawyers also prohibited him to speak about the impossibility to air the interview. "Because my network clearly doesn't want us to talk about this, let's talk about this," he said.

"Let's just call this what it is. Donald Trump's administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV, because all Trump does is watch TV." Colbert's show ended up posting the interview on its YouTube page.

Colbert, whose show will end in May after being cancelled, directly addressed FCC chair Brendan Carr, who said there would no longer be exemptions to the rule for equal time because "broadcast television stations have an obligation to operate in the public interest – not in any narrow partisan, political interest".

"Sir, you're chair of the FCC, so FCC you. I think you are motivated by partisan purposes yourself," Colbert said. CBS, now controlled by David Ellison, has been under scrutiny over its independence after different incidents, including the suspension of a 60 Minutes segment about conditions at El Salvador's infamous CECOT prison, where hundreds of Venezuelans were sent by the U.S. last year under the Alien Enemies Act.

Originally published on Latin Times