Trump Nemesis Kimmel Claims Texas Opposition Candidate Interview Scrapped Due to Authorities' Threats

US television host Jimmy Kimmel, who previously faced pressure to be fired after satirizing US President Donald Trump, claimed that his interview with Democratic politician James Talarico cannot be broadcast due to pressure from authorities.

According to CNBC on the 10th (local time), Kimmel, the host of ABC's flagship talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", announced during the previous night's broadcast that he decided not to air the interview with Democratic Texas US Senate candidate Talarico.

He explained, "For some reason, and we can't even figure out what the reason is, but for some reason, changes were made," adding, "The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) threatened me, our show, ABC, and our local stations."

The FCC is the broadcasting regulatory authority with the power to issue and renew broadcast licenses for terrestrial TV and radio stations.

Kimmel said, "Out of consideration for ABC-affiliated stations, we made the decision to cancel the terrestrial broadcast," and added, "This is the best we can do in the America we live in until November (when the midterm elections take place)."

He added that the interview would instead be released on YouTube on this day.

When asked for comment regarding these remarks, representatives for ABC's parent company, The Walt Disney Company, and the FCC did not respond.

Talarico is a rising Democratic Senate candidate in Texas, which is considered a traditional "red state" (a state dominated by the Republican Party).

According to polls, Talarico is currently running neck-and-neck, narrowly leading Republican candidate Ken Paxton.

As President Trump has voiced support for Paxton since the primary stage and he is a candidate chosen by the MAGA base, immense attention is focused on the Texas midterm election race.

It appears that the FCC is also reacting sensitively to this.

Previously, ABC's morning talk show program "The View" also featured candidate Talarico in February, prompting an investigation by the FCC into whether the program qualified as a news broadcast.

Currently, US broadcasting regulators apply the equal-time rule, which requires terrestrial entertainment programs to allocate equal time to all political candidates when inviting them.

While daytime and nighttime TV talk shows have historically been exempt from this rule, the FCC's stance is that it can no longer tolerate this.

In addition, the FCC pressured Disney by ordering it to submit early license renewal applications for eight broadcasting stations, including its subsidiary ABC, and Disney has currently filed a lawsuit against the government.

(Photo: Getty Images)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.