Controversy surrounding a CBS "Late Show" segment with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico has given the Democratic rising star a new burst of momentum just as early voting kicks off in the Lone Star State.
Comic Stephen Colbert said during Monday's episode that CBS told him not to broadcast Talarico's appearance, citing pressure from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The network denied the accusation, but Colbert pushed back and released the interview on YouTube.
In the hours since, the clip has racked up millions of views, and Talarico's campaign has raised millions of dollars. Observers say the surprise development has the potential to be a last-minute game changer in Talarico's closely watched Democratic primary against Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas).
"It's really convenient timing for Talarico's campaign to have this gold nugget placed in their hand, and to be able to utilize it to increase his profile, raise it and bring in dollars right here as we go into early voting," Texas Democratic consultant Joel Montfort said.
Colbert said Monday that his own network's attorneys barred him from hosting Talarico, directly accusing FCC Chair Brendan Carr of being motivated by "partisan purposes."
"Let's just call this what it is: Donald Trump's administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV, because all Trump does is watch TV," said Colbert, whose show is being canceled in May after parent company Paramount's merger with Skydance.
CBS has refuted that claim, saying "The Late Show" was not prohibited from broadcasting the interview but made the decision for itself after receiving legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC's "equal time" rule.
Late-night talk shows such as Colbert's are currently exempt from that rule, which requires a program that interviews a candidate in an election year to allow equal time for that candidate's opponent.
Carr's agency opened a probe earlier this month into ABC's "The View" over another interview with Talarico to decide if the show broke the rule.
Colbert's show ultimately shared Talarico's interview on its YouTube page; Talarico called it "the interview Donald Trump didn't want you to see," and opened the program with the claim that he thinks Trump "is worried that we're about to flip Texas."
The interview pulled in roughly 6 million views in its first day, and Talarico’s campaign reported a $2.5 million haul. Google Trends data, which measures search interest over time on a percentile scale of 0-100, setting 100 as a term’s peak popularity, found interest in Talarico exploded to a new lifetime high Tuesday evening and was no higher than 13 over the past year.
Crockett’s peak over the past week was about 20, indicating she is not currently in the spotlight as much as she has been in the past.
"Free media is never a bad thing. Especially in a close U.S. Senate race where you're already trying to spend a lot of money, this was an amazing amount of free advertising," said Jon Taylor, a political science professor at the University of Texas, San Antonio.
Crockett acknowledged the CBS situation likely helped her rival ahead of their March 3 showdown.
"The 'Late Show' decided that this [uploading the interview online] was the option, and I think that it was a good strategy. I mean, look at what happened when they tried to censor CECOT," Crockett told MS NOW, referring to a"60 Minutes" segment on an El Salvador prison that gained traction online after it was blocked from air.
"We found out that you could get a lot more views," she continued. "So, I think it probably gave my opponent the boost he was looking for."
Recent polls signal the Democratic nod could be anyone's game. Last month, an Emerson College Polling/Nexstar Media poll found Talarico leading Crockett by 9 points in the primary, while a University of Houston poll released this month put Crockett ahead by 8 points. A recent Texas Public Opinion Research poll found the rivals separated by just 1 point, well within the margin of error.
The Democratic primary mirrors a similarly fraught GOP contest, where incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R) is facing a formidable challenge from Attorney General Ken Paxton (R). The competitive primary, in which Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) is also running, is expected to spill into a May runoff. Some Republicans fear Talarico could flip the seat if he were to face Paxton -- who has been leading Cornyn in many polls -- in the general election.
"It's a close enough race that everything matters. Everything matters, good and bad," said Matt Angle, who founded the pro-Democrat Lone Star Project in the state.
"Conventional wisdom is that Talarico matches up better [than Crockett] against Paxton," Angle said. "[Paxton is] their polarized, rising candidate, and rather than matching him with another candidate that some people think are polarizing, then we'd go with somebody that you could build a coalition around. But again, that may not be the case. It's a close race."
Democrats have struggled for decades to win statewide in Texas, which voted for Trump by double digits in 2024. But this cycle has drawn parallels to the 2018 midterms, when Democrat Beto O'Rourke came close to ousting incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R).
"I would think they would be asleep at the wheel if they did not see the clear ... resemblance to 2018," Montfort said.
The spotlight on Talarico comes after former Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), the Democratic nominee for Cruz's Senate seat last cycle, criticized Talarico for allegedly calling Allred a "mediocre Black man." Allred threw his support behind Crockett, while Talarico has denied the allegations.
The Democratic race has been largely a contest of personality and electability rather than ideological differences -- and the two candidates acknowledged as much in a cordial debate last month.
Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian and former middle school teacher, is seen as having a more understated approach that could have general election appeal, though critics question whether he'd be enough of a fighter for Democrats in the Senate.
Crockett, a former Texas state lawmaker and civil rights attorney, is known for her viral exchanges in the House and her firebrand anti-Trump approach, but critics fear she could be too polarizing in a general election.
Though the "Late Show" developments have added fuel to Talarico's bid as voters start casting ballots in the state, Texas operatives say there's still plenty of runway for the race dynamics to change.
"There's nobody better at gaining attention and getting the media's attention better than her. ... I don't think that Jasmine's making any bad moves here," Angle said.
On Wednesday, Crockett notched a key endorsement from Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.).
Lana Hansen, executive director of the Democratic advocacy group Texas Blue Action, was skeptical that the Talarico attention is a game-changer.
"It feels very 50-50, and I would absolutely not be surprised if we end up in a runoff," she said, emphasizing a big unknown from infrequent voters in the state. "Our battle is not with the Republicans; it's with Democrats and their couch."