Colbert and Talarico promoted phony censorship ‘hoax,’ FCC chair tells Glenn Beck

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr accused "The Late Show" host Stephen Colbert and Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico of spreading a "hoax" about their interview segment.

Colbert claimed during his Monday-night show that the FCC's new guidance on the equal time rule forced CBS to block Talarico from appearing on his program.

'This was a decision by Colbert, by Talarico to put a hoax out there that they knew the media would run for purposes of Talarico, apparently, scoring political points against Jasmine Crockett.'

"[Talarico] was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network's lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast," Colbert told his viewers.

CBS released a statement explaining that Colbert's show was "provided legal guidance" that broadcasting the interview "could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates" running against Talarico for the U.S. Senate seat in Texas. The network stated that it "presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled," but that Colbert's team instead "decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel."

During a Thursday episode of "The Glenn Beck Program," Glenn Beck asked Carr whether the FCC had provided any legal guidance to CBS concerning the interview. Carr insisted the FCC had not.

He told Beck, "I woke up Tuesday morning and logged onto social media, and that was the first time that I'd even heard about this. And I woke up to a politician claiming that the FCC had somehow not aired — is what they said — the FCC refused to air this segment, and that wasn't true at all."

"Not only was that not true, but the subsequent claim that it was CBS that refused to air it was also proved to be a hoax as well," Carr continued. "In fact, CBS, apparently, had advised Colbert they could run the exact interview that they wanted, and they just needed to be mindful that it could trigger an equal time obligation for other candidates."

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Stephen Colbert. Photo by Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images

He accused Colbert of running a "hoax," arguing that "he knew he could fool ... the legacy media by claiming he was censored."

Carr speculated that the alleged trick aimed to give Talarico "a leg up" on his Democrat opponent, Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas.

"This was a decision by Colbert, by Talarico to put a hoax out there that they knew the media would run for purposes of Talarico, apparently, scoring political points against Jasmine Crockett," Carr told Beck.

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"The View." Photo by Lou Rocco/American Broadcasting Companies Inc. via Getty Images

Beck also questioned Carr about "The View" after reports surfaced that the show is facing an FCC investigation for possible equal time violations.

Carr explained that "The View" has argued that it is a "bona fide" news program, meaning that it should be exempt from the equal time rule, which would allow the ABC program to have a political candidate on the show without providing an equal opportunity to other candidates running in the same election.

Carr insisted that "The View" has "not made the case to the FCC that they do, in fact, qualify for the exception to the rule."

"And so we have started an enforcement inquiry, taking enforcement actions to explore this issue with them and move forward," he stated, adding that the FCC is "actively looking" at the show's claim that it is a bona fide news program.

CBS, ABC, Talarico's campaign, and representatives for "The Late Show," "The View," and Colbert did not respond to a request for comment.

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