James Talarico declared that the drama surrounding his allegedly pulled “Late Show” interview should be “troubling” for all Americans, blasting it as an attack on the First Amendment.

The Texas state representative, who is running for a U.S. senate seat, addressed the controversy tied to his interview with Stephen Colbert on MS NOW’s “The Last Word,” where he confessed that the situation felt like “déjà vu” given his past FCC drama.

“We had just gone through this with ‘The View,’” Talarico told host Lawrence O’Donnell. “Trump’s FCC launched an investigation into ‘The View’ after I appeared on that program. So, to have that happen again, it just felt like a bad re-run.”

He continued: “It should be troubling to all of us, regardless of our political affiliations or our political beliefs, that the most powerful people in the country, the most powerful politicians and the most powerful corporate executives are working together to sell out the First Amendment, to sell out our freedom of speech, in order to protect their own power and their own wealth.”

As Talarico continued, he reiterated that the situation “should be concerning” for both Democrats and Republicans, adding, “An attack on any one of our First Amendment rights is an attack on all of our First Amendment rights.”

Talarico’s comments come after Colbert claimed during Monday’s episode of “The Late Show” that he was pressured by CBS lawyers to not broadcast his discussion with the U.S. senate candidate out of concern for FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s enforcement of the equal-time rule. He instead chose to upload the interview on the late show’s YouTube page.

Talarico: It should be troubling to all of us, regardless of our political affiliations or our political beliefs, that the most powerful people in the country, the most powerful politicians and the most powerful corporate executives are working together to sell out the first… pic.twitter.com/b6gtsEkn3M

— Acyn (@Acyn) February 18, 2026

CBS responded to Colbert’s claims on Tuesday, noting in a statement, “‘The Late Show’ was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico. The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled. ‘The Late Show’ decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on-air promotion on the broadcast rather than potentially providing the equal-time options.”

The move to YouTube proved to be a successful one for Colbert and Talarico, given their discussion garnered 3 million views in just 18 hours.

Crockett even weighed in on the success of Talarico’s online exclusive with Colbert, noting on “The Briefing With Jen Psaki” that it gave her opponent “the boost he was looking for.”

She added: “So, I think it’s probably better that he didn’t get on and that they went straight to streaming.”

“The Last Word” airs weeknights at 10 p.m. ET on MS NOW.