Kimmel Posts James Talarico Interview; Hits Trump, FCC During Intro

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Posted in: ABC, TV, YouTube | Tagged: fcc, kimmel, talarico

Kimmel Posts James Talarico Interview; Hits Trump, FCC During Intro

 In response to threats from Donald Trump and the FCC, Jimmy Kimmel posted his interview with James Talarico on YouTube - and here it is.

Published Thu, 10 Sep 2026 22:40:11 -0500
by Ray Flook
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Article Summary

  • Jimmy Kimmel posted his James Talarico interview on YouTube after saying Trump and the FCC targeted ABC over it.
  • Kimmel’s intro blasts Trump and FCC Chair Brendan Carr, accusing them of threatening his show and local ABC stations.
  • The Kimmel-Talarico interview covers MAGA, voting rights, corporate PAC money, Ken Paxton, and GOP fear of his rise.
  • Talarico later called the Trump FCC pressure a dangerous form of cancel culture and a threat to free speech.

A day after late-night host Jimmy Kimmel announced that his interview with Texas State Representative James Talarico was being moved off of ABC and onto YouTube over fears of political retaliation from Donald Trump and his FCC Chair, Brendan Carr, the approximately 20-minute interview has been posted on the show's YouTube channel. "I mentioned last night, we are being targeted by the FCC for the crime of interviewing political candidates," Kimmel began the interview, before introducing Talarico. "Even though for years we and every other late-night talk show have welcomed numerous candidates, including Donald Trump when he was running. He was on this show two times. But now I guess he doesn't like me anymore, or the First Amendment. And so the FCC has threatened me or threatened my show, our network, even our local ABC stations because they want to make our editorial decisions for us, which of course we cannot accept. And so tonight, we are bypassing the public airwaves and hosting this YouTube…uh, interview on YouTube, even though uh our government would clearly prefer that we not do it at all."

Image: YouTube Screencaps

Here's a look at the interview, with Kimmel and Talarico discussing Republicans being scared of him winning, Jesus being co-opted by MAGA, the RNC Convention being held in Texas, not taking money from corporate PACs, Trump calling him a "freaky guy," having second thoughts about endorsing his opponent, Ken Paxton, and the GOP's efforts to make it harder for people to vote:

"You know, for a lot of years, for the whole 20-plus years of our show, in fact, I've been interviewing Americans who are running for office with no problem at all, just like Letterman did, Leno did, Arsenio, etc., etc., I've interviewed a lot of political candidates. From Hillary Clinton to Ted Cruz to Donald Trump," Kimmel shared with his audience on Wednesday night. "I interviewed Donald Trump when he was running for president in 2015, and at that time, when he was the one sitting next to me, he seemed to have no problem with the idea of talk show hosts interviewing candidates. In fact, he was very eager to come back for another interview, which he did just before he became the nominee in 2016. But for some reason, and I can't seem to figure out what that reason is, something has changed."

"Now that he 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 continued. "And so, out of consideration for our local stations, especially our ABC affiliates in Texas, who would have to deal with this nonsense, my interview tomorrow with James Talarico will not air on television. It will be posted on YouTube instead."

"So, if you want to learn about a candidate for the Senate tomorrow, you will have to go to the Jimmy Kimmel Live YouTube channel where you will see it in its entirety. And thank goodness we have that, because in the America we live in right now, that is the best that we can do – until November, of course," Kimmel added, driving home the point that voting in the midterms is more important than ever. "Because that's the most important thing you can do."

Speaking with Symone Sanders for an edition of MS NOW's The Weeknight that aired today, Talarico accused the Trump Administration and the FCC of engaging in "the most dangerous form of cancel culture" against the network. "I think it's the most dangerous form of cancel culture. People at the top, powerful politicians, powerful media executives, censoring what we watch, what we read, what we say. And that, again, should be a concern to everyone who believes in the First Amendment and believes in the freedom of speech," Talarico noted, adding that he was "still hopeful that we can have this interview on the air. So we'll see what happens tonight."

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