All Trump does is watch TV.

Colbert says CBS spiked planned James Talarico interview amid FCC pressure

“Let’s just call this what it is,” Colbert said. “Donald Trump’s administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV, because all Trump does is watch TV.”

By Gregory Svirnovskiy

Stephen Colbert blasted CBS on Monday night after the network killed a planned interview with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, citing concerns that going through with it would raise the ire of the Trump administration.

The network’s decision to block the interview is one of the highest-profile instances of the Trump administration applying pressure to rein in media personalities it views as unfriendly. Colbert panned President Donald Trump as “a toddler with too much screen time.”

At issue: the Federal Communications Commission’s equal time provision, which requires radio and broadcast programs to devote equal time to all candidates in a particular race. News programs have long been exempt from the rule, which has generally also been extended to talk shows. But guidance issued by FCC Chair Brendan Carr in January signaled the agency could go after late-night talk hosts or shows like the “The View” by citing the provision.

“Carr said he was thinking about dropping the exception for talk shows because he said that some of them were motivated by partisan purposes,” Colbert told his audience. “Well, sir, you’re chairman of the FCC. So FCC you. Because I think you are motivated by partisan purposes yourself.”

The FCC and CBS did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Colbert’s criticism.

As far back as his first term, Trump has floated using the FCC provision to go after talk show hosts. Since his return to the White House last January, Carr and other administration figures have aggressively targeted media institutions the president has criticized.

Carr pressured ABC and several television station operators to temporarily take late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s show off the air in September amid conservative anger over comments he made after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Trump cheered the move, also calling for NBC to go after its own late-night hosts, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon.

“Let’s just call this what it is,” Colbert said. “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 time with CBS is winding down. Paramount Global, the network’s parent company, announced last summer that it would soon be cancelling “The Late Show” amid criticism from the president. Even though Paramount called the move a financial decision, it prompted widespread condemnation from Democrats and press freedom advocates.

The talk show host did go through with his planned interview with Talarico, though only for his show’s YouTube page.

“I was told in some uncertain terms that not only could I not have him on,” Colbert said of his interview with Talarico. “I could not mention me not having him on. And because my network clearly doesn’t want us to not talk about this, let’s talk about this.”