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Welcome to The Logoff: The Trump administration is mucking about with late-night TV once more.
What occurred? On Monday night time, comic Stephen Colbert, who hosts CBS’s late-night speak present The Late Present, stated he had been barred by CBS legal professionals from airing an interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico over issues a couple of Federal Communications Fee (FCC) rule.
Late-night exhibits have lengthy been thought of exempt from one thing referred to as the equal-time rule, which requires equal airtime for candidates contending for a similar workplace. Final month, nevertheless, the Trump administration introduced that it might start to implement the rule. (The Late Present did publish Colbert’s Talarico interview on YouTube, the place the present isn’t topic to the identical restrictions; it’s racked up greater than 2.7 million views as of Tuesday night.)
Talarico is at the moment going through Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett within the Democratic main, which is able to happen subsequent month (although early voting started right now). Whoever wins will face the Republican nominee in November in a long-shot bid to flip a Republican Senate seat at the moment held by Sen. John Cornyn.
What’s the context? President Donald Trump has lengthy had it out for America’s late-night hosts. Most notably, his administration intervened final yr to briefly drive the comic Jimmy Kimmel, who hosts ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Reside!, off the air for Kimmel’s feedback relating to the capturing dying of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Trump additionally celebrated CBS’s choice final yr to cancel Colbert’s Late Present after its present season, writing that “his expertise was even lower than his rankings.” CBS has defended the cancellation, which occurred shortly after its guardian firm settled with the Trump administration for $16 million, as a monetary choice.
Why does this matter? The FCC’s newfound ardour for equal-time guidelines is transparently partisan, and it clearly has tooth — along with Kimmel’s suspension final yr, the company is reportedly investigating whether or not ABC’s The View violated the identical equal-time rule by interviewing Talarico earlier this month.
And with that, it’s time to log out…
Have you ever, like me, been listening to so, a lot concerning the new “Wuthering Heights” movie? (Thoughts the citation marks, that are actually a part of the title.) Do you additionally need to know what’s occurring, maybe with out spending a number of hours within the theater? Vox’s Constance Grady has you lined together with her new, scathing, informative evaluation — you may learn it right here. Have an excellent night, and we’ll see you again right here tomorrow!