FCC Chair: ‘I Was Highly Entertained’ by the ‘Hoax’ Colbert, Talarico Played on the Media
19th February 2026
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr said at a press event Wednesday that he got a big laugh when he looked back at the way CBS “Late Show” Host Stephen Colbert used a hoax to manipulate the media this week.
Rebuking the legacy media’s blind regurgitation of Colbert’s claim that CBS prohibited him from airing an interview with Democrat Texas Senate primary candidate James Talarico because the FCC banned the interview, Chairman Carr pointed out that even CBS says that neither the network nor the FCC prevented Colbert from airing the interview.
Instead, the media-savvy Rep. Talarico (D-Texas) and Colbert played a hilarious hoax on the all-too-predictable media, Carr explained.
“When I stepped back and looked at the entire arch of the news story yesterday, I was highly entertained. I think it was one of the most fun days I’ve had on the job, watching for the hilarity of how this story played out,” Carr said: