Los Angeles, California – Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel announced that an interview he conducted with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico will not air on ABC amid threats from President Donald Trump‘s Federal Communications Commission.
During his opening monologue on Wednesday, Kimmel lamented that while he has interviewed political candidates over the more than 20 years his show has been on the air – including Trump himself – recently “something has changed.”
“Now that [Trump] is president, his FCC has threatened me, threatened our show, threatened our network, ABC, our affiliates, our local stations based on simple traditional editorial decisions, guest bookings it would seem they don’t like,” Kimmel said.
“And so out of consideration for our local stations, especially our ABC affiliates in Texas… my interview tomorrow with James Talarico will not air on television; It will be posted on YouTube instead.”
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The announcement comes as Trump has made aggressive efforts in his second term to punish news outlets and media figures that are critical of him.
Brendan Carr, the head of the FCC who has targeted Kimmel in the past, has faced accusations of using his role to further the president’s agenda.
This is also not the first time Talarico, who is leading his Texas race, has faced such censorship.
