James Talarico with Jimmy Kimmel
These are tiresome times with James Talarico getting the media worked up, as the press is clearly on board with his campaign. When it was announced that he was going to sit for an interview with Jimmy Kimmel most could have written the upcoming manufactured “controversy.”
And, sure enough, they followed the script to the letter. The claim was circulating that the FCC, at the urging of President Trump, had forced Kimmel to move the recorded discussion to YouTube. Kimmel barked about the move, and Talarico claimed censorship. The ensuing yawns were inevitable
It was the Stephen Colbert episode in sequel fashion, with the only difference being this was only slightly less stupid. The entire issue the arm-waving reactionaries avoid is that there is a standing rule requiring equal time for candidates. So with the obfuscation in place, let’s untangle the knotted-up accusations.
The first prevarication to dismiss is that the FCC, and Chairman Brendan Carr, forced Kimmel to pull the interview. This charge falls apart because it is clear the production knew ahead of time to place the interview on YouTube. This was to avoid the application of the Broadcasters Equal Time Rule.
The show was fully aware of this because of what played out earlier this year. When the James Talarico flap emerged with Colbert the accusation, that the Trump administration was scared and silencing him, was especially asinine. The reason there was an issue was that the show would have had to accommodate his opponent.
At that time, James Talarico was campaigning for the Democratic primary, so blaming Trump had zero merit. The only aggrieved party over his appearance would have been Democrat Jasmine Crockett. All Colbert had to do was offer to have Jasmine on the show. The production chose not to; you are free to speculate why they made that decision.
Both Colbert and Kimmel voluntarily made the decision to move Talarico to YouTube. This longstanding election standard holds that if any candidate appears on a broadcast program, then that outlet should offer a proportionate appearance opportunity to their opponent. It is a simple and longstanding requirement, and the Jimmy Kimmel Live producers – much like those from The Late Show: With Stephen Colbert – knew this rule held.
Even as they voluntarily moved the interview to YouTube, Talarico was out claiming this was all done for the sake of protecting his Republican opponent, Ken Paxton. Talarico then launched into a series of accusations that he maintained was proof of subterfuge by the FCC. Like so much of Talarico’s claims and campaign quotes, this withers under bare scrutiny.
Take his comment to Kimmel in the interview: “All of my money comes from hardworking Texans.” He had the stones to say this after returning from a fundraiser…in Hollywood. He also pocketed his share of checks from Silicon Valley. No one expected the comedian to challenge the candidate with those details.
If Paxton’s controversies were in fact an issue, then James should be upset with one person – Jimmy Kimmel. One of two things could have played out in his favor. All the show had to do was invite Paxton to be on with Jimmy, and then Talarico’s interview would have played on the program with no issue.
Further, had Paxton accepted, then those accusations Talarico is referencing would have been able to be brought to light. The compliant Kimmel could have peppered Paxton with those accusatory questions that Talarico desired. Passing on that opportunity says everything.
Instead, they simply moved to YouTube by rote, and then cooked up the hysterics, claiming they were forced to do so. And the press played right along with that script.
Then this weekend things became even more insufferably insipid. On Saturday morning, ESPN’s College GameDay had a segment where Senator Ted Cruz sat for an interview. This was because they were staging the game in Austin, Texas, and they discussed an issue in Congress regarding the effort to have more governmental oversight of college sports and the NIL standards that have gotten out of control.
There were voices expressing outrage merely at the appearance of Cruz, but the more impacted thinkers were drawing comparisons to the Kimmel non-troversy; Why was Talarico banned from broadcasts, but Cruz is allowed to appear on ESPN?!?!
For two very simple reasons. To start, Ted Cruz is not currently running for office, so his appearing had no bearing on the Equal Time issue. Secondly, even if he was currently campaigning, it still would not apply, as he was seen on a cable network. The Equal Time provision only applies to broadcasts over airwaves. It is the same reason the Talarico-Kimmel confab was moved to YouTube; cable television and the internet are not governed by FCC regulations.
This is not arcane, undiscoverable information being referenced. It is standard operating rules that most should be aware of when discussing such matters. The braying voices in the media spectrum complaining about censorship and/or double standards with the FCC and the administration are exposing themselves.
They are either shrieking about things out of ignorance, or they are being hyper-dramatic with deceptions. Of course, as is often the case with these hyperbolic doses of outrage, we should really just embrace the “and” when it comes to these examples.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
New: The Mediaite One-Sheet “Newsletter of Newsletters”
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!