Jimmy Kimmel interviewed Hillary Clinton in August 2016 – the general election – and never had Donald Trump back on his show that year.
Now he's calling himself a censorship victim.
What Jimmy Kimmel won't tell his shrinking audience is that his own 2016 hypocrisy is the entire reason the FCC is watching him today.
The Law Kimmel Violated Before He Was Ever "Threatened"
The equal-time rule isn't new.
Congress passed it in 1934.
The rule is simple: give airtime to one candidate, and competing candidates can demand equal time.
Kimmel hosted Trump in May 2016, before the Republican nomination was secured.
Once Trump became the nominee, Kimmel never had him back.
But on August 22nd, during the general election, Kimmel sat Hillary Clinton down for a full interview on ABC – a broadcast network licensed by the federal government.
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/2097452001617670342?s=20
That was a violation.
Not a technicality.
A violation.
For two decades, Kimmel played Democrat fundraiser from a set that the FCC licenses.
He raised millions for Democrat candidates.
He used his platform to bludgeon Republicans while giving free air time to their opponents.
Then he acted shocked when the agency responsible for that license started paying attention.
Colbert Ran the Same Play Seven Months Ago
Stephen Colbert tried this exact script in February.
He booked Talarico on The Late Show, CBS lawyers told him the interview couldn't air on broadcast, and Colbert went on camera calling himself a censorship victim.
CBS released a statement the next day that gutted his entire argument: the network's legal team had concluded that putting Talarico on broadcast meant every other candidate in the Texas Senate race could demand equal airtime.
Not Trump's lawyers.
CBS's lawyers.
The same network paying Colbert's salary told him the law was the law.
Within three months, CBS canceled the show.
The Talarico-Colbert YouTube video racked up 9.5 million views.
Talarico raised $2.5 million in 24 hours off the manufactured outrage.
Now Kimmel is running it back.
What Kimmel Deliberately Left Out of His Monologue
Kimmel spent Wednesday night lecturing America about his 20-plus-year record of interviewing candidates "with no problem at all." What he skipped:
Kimmel could have interviewed Talarico last week.
The 60-day window before the November election – when equal-time rules kick in – opened in early September.
Before that window, Kimmel could have booked Talarico any time with no FCC complications. Instead, Jimmy Kimmel Live! took an extended holiday break.
That's not censorship.
That's a choice.
Kimmel also conveniently forgot that Ken Paxton – Talarico's opponent, the man he called "a piece of human Silly Putty" on national television – was never invited on the show.
Not once.
If Kimmel actually believed his monologue about the importance of voters hearing from Senate candidates, Paxton's number is easy to find.
He didn't call because Kimmel isn't a journalist.
He's a Democrat operative with a camera crew.
Brendan Carr Is Just Enforcing the Law Kimmel Already Broke
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has been clear about exactly what he's doing and why.
"On my watch, we're going to enforce this regulation," Carr told Fox News Digital earlier this year.
That's it.
No secret agenda.
No novel interpretation.
A federal official doing his job.
The FCC has opened proceedings.
The FCC has issued guidance.
The FCC has not imposed a single fine, revoked a single license, or penalized any network under Carr's framework.
What Kimmel and his ABC lawyers actually fear is the equal-time rule requiring them to give Ken Paxton – or any other Republican candidate in Texas – equivalent airtime.
That's the threat.
Not censorship.
Fairness.
ABC is so committed to avoiding that outcome that it's currently suing the FCC in federal court, arguing its own broadcast license shouldn't be subject to the rules the agency has always had authority to enforce.
Disney wants a government license to access public airwaves, without the public-interest obligations that come with it.
This Is a Campaign Finance Operation
The Colbert playbook proved this works.
You manufacture outrage, the interview goes viral, the Democrat candidate raises millions, and you call the whole thing a win for free speech.
Nine-point-five million views.
Two-and-a-half million dollars raised in 24 hours.
The censorship story did more for Talarico's campaign than any broadcast interview ever could have.
Kimmel knows this.
His producers know this.
https://twitter.com/RedWavePress/status/2097456240079056974?s=20
The choice to move the interview to YouTube instead of simply not booking Talarico during the 60-day window was deliberate.
He wanted the story.
He wanted the martyr moment.
He wanted Talarico's fundraising numbers to spike.
What Jimmy Kimmel is doing isn't brave.
It's a coordinated in-kind contribution to a Senate campaign, dressed up as a First Amendment crisis – by a man who broke the actual First Amendment law in 2016 and never faced a consequence for it.
Until now.
Sources:
- Jerome Hudson, "Jimmy Kimmel Pulls a Colbert: Lies About 'FCC Threats' Forcing Him to Air Talarico Interview on YouTube, Not ABC," Breitbart, September 10, 2026.
- "Kimmel Says Trump's FCC Has Threatened Show, So His James Talarico Interview Will Air on YouTube Instead of ABC," Deadline, September 10, 2026.
- "Fake News Is Not Getting a Free Pass Anymore," Fox News Digital, February 2026.
- "Kimmel Mourns FCC Compelling Him to Put Talarico Interview on YouTube," NewsBusters, September 10, 2026.
- "Jimmy Kimmel's Interview With James Talarico Heading to YouTube to Avoid FCC Hassle," Hollywood Reporter, September 10, 2026.
- "Kimmel Moves Talarico Interview to YouTube, Citing FCC Threats," HNGN, September 10, 2026.