Jimmy Kimmel turned to YouTube on Thursday night to house his interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico — in light of fears that the FCC would punish ABC stations for running the chat. Said Talarico: “Well, they’re worried that we’re going to win this race in Texas. But we are the underdogs until the last vote is counted.
We’re not just going up against the most corrupt politician in Texas. We’re going up against this entire corrupt system.” Among the topics that Kimmel and Talarico discussed were him not taking money from corporate PACs, Trump’s relationship with Talarico’s opponent (Ken Paxton), the GOP attempting to suppress voting and how the teachings of Jesus had been corrupted by the MAGA movement. You can’t love God and oppress the poor.
You can’t love God and bully the outcast … I was brought up to believe that in the face of a neighbor, we glimpse the face of God. Matthew 25 tells us Christians exactly how we’re going to be judged and how we’re going to be saved by feeding the hungry, by healing the sick, by welcoming the stranger. I think he would tell the senators on the floor, ‘Depart from me, for I was hungry and you cut my food assistance.
I was sick and you kicked me off Medicaid. I was a stranger and you deported me and my family.’ And then I think he would flip over those fancy desks on the floor of the U.S. Senate and demand that we take care of all of our neighbors, especially the least of these.” Talarico also addressed the fact that his opponent, Paxton, was previously impeached by his fellow Republicans for bribery.
You can watch these videos of people asking him about his 15 homes, asking him about the THC ban in Texas, and he gets this terrified look on his face, and he just walks the other way. When I get hard questions on the campaign trail, I answer them, and that’s exactly what we should expect from our public officials in a democracy.” On his actual ABC broadcast monologue Thursday, Kimmel told the audience that “this is — the show you’re watching — this is an unusual program for us because in a few minutes, I’m going to interview James Talarico — the Democratic nominee for U.S. But you’re not going to see it.” Kimmel announced on his show Wednesday night that his interview with Talarico would not air on ABC and would instead be posted to YouTube, citing concerns about the FCC, which has previously threatened ABC station licenses and played a key role in Kimmel’s brief suspension in 2025.
It will not be on TV.” He expanded on the reason in his Thursday monologue: “I mentioned last night, this interview will not be televised because of threats from the FCC, led by Commissioner Brendan Carr, who says we do not have the right to interview whichever candidates we want to interview. Which is something we’ve been doing for twenty-plus years. So not only would I have to interview James Talarico as a Republican opponent, Ken Paxton — which, by the way, I would love to do, call me.
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