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What James Talarico Believes
Confirmed
In Short: Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico accuses government censorship after his interview with Jimmy Kimmel is moved to YouTube.
Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico is accusing the Trump administration and the FCC of 'government censorship' after his interview with Jimmy Kimmel on ABC's 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' was moved to YouTube.
Kimmel cited the FCC's targeting of ABC and talk shows in general, stating, '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.'
Talarico, in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, called the move 'the most dangerous form of cancel culture.' He added, '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.'
Kimmel noted that he has interviewed numerous political candidates over the years, including Donald Trump in 2015, without issue. '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,' Kimmel said.
Talarico remains hopeful that the interview might still air on ABC in some form. 'I’m still hopeful that we can have this interview on the air. So we’ll see what happens tonight,' he said.
Talarico's absence from public events has also drawn criticism from his opponent, Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton's campaign is calling on Talarico to produce a photo of himself with a newspaper showing today's date, suggesting that Talarico has been hiding from the public. 'James Talarico wants to represent 31 million Texans in the U.S. Senate, but for 12 days, he’s hidden from every one of them. There’s a reason they call it ‘Texas Tough,’ and it’s not because Texans hide at the first sign of trouble,' Paxton said.
Talarico's campaign has countered that he is simply recovering from the flu. 'After holding more than 100 public events and shaking tens of thousands of hands, James came down with the flu but will be back on the trail this weekend,' said Talarico spokesman JT Ennis.
Despite the controversy, Talarico remains a frontrunner in the race, according to a recent Marist survey. The survey, taken September 17-20 among 1,139 registered voters, showed Talarico leading Paxton by six points, with 50 percent support for Talarico and 44 percent for Paxton.
What's confirmed
- Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico is accusing the Trump administration and the FCC of 'government censorship' after his interview with Jimmy Kimmel on ABC's 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' was moved to YouTube.
- Kimmel noted that he has interviewed numerous political candidates over the years, including Donald Trump in 2015, without issue. '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,' Kimmel said.
- Talarico remains hopeful that the interview might still air on ABC in some form. 'I’m still hopeful that we can have this interview on the air. So we’ll see what happens tonight,' he said.
- Talarico's absence from public events has also drawn criticism from his opponent, Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton's campaign is calling on Talarico to produce a photo of himself with a newspaper showing today's date, suggesting that Talarico has been hiding from the public. 'James Talarico wants to represent 31 million Texans in the U.S. Senate, but for 12 days, he’s hidden from every one of them. There’s a reason they call it ‘Texas Tough,’ and it’s not because Texans hide at the first sign of trouble,' Paxton said.
- Talarico's campaign has countered that he is simply recovering from the flu. 'After holding more than 100 public events and shaking tens of thousands of hands, James came down with the flu but will be back on the trail this weekend,' said Talarico spokesman JT Ennis.
- Despite the controversy, Talarico remains a frontrunner in the race, according to a recent Marist survey. The survey, taken September 17-20 among 1,139 registered voters, showed Talarico leading Paxton by six points, with 50 percent support for Talarico and 44 percent for Paxton.
What's still developing
- “Look, he’s got, like, $80 million of ads going right now. So I think that’s pretty good scale for him at the moment,” Espinoza said.
- “It’s certainly not ideal, but we want to make sure he does everything he needs to to make sure that he’s healthy and ready to go. We’re in the homestretch, and it sounds like he’s on the mend, and that’s great news,” Scudder said.
- “We have a simple request: proof of life,” Paxton campaign spokeswoman Madison Cercy said.
- Talarico’s absence is undoubtedly a curveball for Democrats who believe his best asset is connecting with potential voters in person.
- “We’d rather have him on the trail.” At the Hispanic Business Council event, Talarico appeared virtually and was blowing his nose and coughing through the event.
- Talarico only sees a one-point advantage among Gen X – 49 percent to 48 percent – while those part of the Baby Boomers, Silent, and Greatest generations prefer Paxton by a 23-point margin.
- Despite Talarico’s self-proclaimed status as a Christian, white evangelical Christians do not support him, as 75 percent go with Paxton and 22 percent with the Democrat.
- Notably, independents give Talarico a double-digit lead, preferring him over Paxton with 55 percent support to 35 percent.
- Wednesday’s RealClearPolling average has Talarico up by an average of 2.8 percent.
- Gen Z, for instance, backs Talarico by a 56-point margin – 74 percent to 18 percent for Paxton.
- In a recently unearthed Easter sermon, Rigby doubted the resurrection of Jesus – the cornerstone of the Gospel – and concluded that the real message is people need to “see the sacred in every being,” including plants.