Emily Zemler
View all posts by Emily Zemler September 11, 2026
James Talarico on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' YouTube/Jimmy Kimmel Live Jimmy Kimmel shared his interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico on YouTube after the FCC threatened Jimmy Kimmel Live, ABC, their affiliates, and local stations.
Kimmel explained the situation during his monologue on Wednesday night’s episode, saying he decided to move the interview off air “out of consideration for our local stations, especially our ABC affiliates in Texas who would have to deal with this nonsense.”
The 20-minute conversation instead was posted to the late-night show’s YouTube page on Thursday night.
“I mentioned last night we are being targeted by the FCC for the crime of interviewing political candidates,” Kimmel explained in the clip. “Even though for years we, and every other late-night talk show, have welcomed numerous candidates, including Donald Trump. … Tonight we are bypassing the public airwaves and hosting this interview on YouTube, even though our government would clearly prefer we not do it at all.”
Kimmel then welcomed Talarico, who is running against state Attorney General Ken Paxton. “Why are they so scared of you?” the host asked. “Well, they’re worried we’re going to win this race in Texas,” Talarico replied. “But we are the underdogs until the last vote is counted. We’re not just going up against the most corrupt politician in Texas. We’re going up against this entire corrupt system.”
During the interview, Talarico discussed Republicans being scared of him winning the Senate race and Trump calling him a “freaky guy.”
“I think people are tired of politics as professional wrestling,” Talarico said. “These old guys, lathered up in their fake tans, throwing corny nicknames at each other. These nicknames, they don’t lower the price of groceries. They don’t lower the price of gas. They don’t lower the cost of heath care. They don’t actually improve anybody’s life.”
He added, “And that’s why I’m in politics. The only reason I ran for office, the only reason I’m running for the U.S. Senate, is to try to love my neighbor through public policy, trying to make my neighbor’s life easier and better and less stressful.”
