ABC's Jimmy Kimmel is moving a political interview with Democrat James Talarico to YouTube to avoid FCC license threats from the Trump administration, reflecting increasing regulatory pressure on broadcasters.
<p>ABC's Jimmy Kimmel said he will be interviewing a Democratic candidate for Senate tonight, but the interview will be on YouTube only and not broadcast on TV because of threats made by the Federal Communications Commission.</p>
<p>Kimmel has been a prime target in the Trump FCC's attacks on ABC and its owner, Disney. In his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIbSEScdV2o&t=526s">monologue</a> last night, Kimmel said he'll be interviewing Democrat James Talarico, a state representative who is running against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for a seat in the US Senate.</p>
<p>In previous years, such an interview would have aired on the broadcast show via local stations throughout the country, Kimmel said. This time, it will only be on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/jimmykimmellive"><em>Jimmy Kimmel Live</em> YouTube channel</a> in order to prevent further trouble for individual stations that hold FCC licenses, he said.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/kimmels-abc-show-wont-air-interview-with-democrat-because-of-trump-fcc-threats/">Read full article</a></p>
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# Kimmel's ABC show won't air interview with Democrat because of Trump FCC threats
Source: [https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/kimmels-abc-show-wont-air-interview-with-democrat-because-of-trump-fcc-threats/](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/kimmels-abc-show-wont-air-interview-with-democrat-because-of-trump-fcc-threats/)
ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel said he will be interviewing a Democratic candidate for Senate tonight, but the interview will be on YouTube only and not broadcast on TV because of threats made by the Federal Communications Commission\.
Kimmel has been a prime target in the Trump FCC’s attacks on ABC and its owner, Disney\. In his[monologue](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIbSEScdV2o&t=526s)last night, Kimmel said he’ll be interviewing Democrat James Talarico, a state representative who is running against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for a seat in the US Senate\.
In previous years, such an interview would have aired on the broadcast show via local stations throughout the country, Kimmel said\. This time, it will only be on the[*Jimmy Kimmel Live*YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/jimmykimmellive)in order to prevent further trouble for individual stations that hold FCC licenses, he said\.
“I’ll be interviewing James Talarico tomorrow night under unusual circumstances,” Kimmel told the audience on Wednesday\. “For a lot of years, for the whole 20\-plus years of our show, in fact, I’ve been interviewing Americans who are running for office with no problem at all, just like Letterman did, Leno did, Arsenio, et cetera, et cetera\. I’ve interviewed a lot of political candidates, from Hillary Clinton to Ted Cruz to Donald Trump himself\.”
But as Kimmel said, “something has changed\.” Disney suspended Kimmel briefly last year after[FCC Chairman Brendan Carr threatened to revoke](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/09/fcc-chairman-unconvincingly-claims-he-never-threatened-abc-station-licenses/)the licenses of ABC stations for “news distortion” if they continued to air Kimmel’s show\.
## Trump admin attacks on ABC
Much more has followed\. In April, the Carr FCC[ordered an early license review](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/fcc-orders-review-of-abc-licenses-after-kimmel-joke-offends-trump-and-first-lady/)for all eight TV stations owned by ABC\. Carr did this only one day after Trump and first lady Melania Trump called on ABC to fire Kimmel over a joke they didn’t like, though the FCC says the license review is over allegations that ABC’s diversity, equity, and inclusion \(DEI\) practices violate anti\-discrimination rules\.
Jimmy Kimmel announced that his interview with James Talarico will be posted on YouTube instead of airing on TV due to threats from the FCC under the Trump administration.
The Trump FCC's move to punish ABC over disliked speech, including a forced early license renewal review, draws bipartisan backlash from former FCC officials and conservative groups who warn it sets a chilling precedent.
ABC and its parent company Disney are suing the FCC, alleging retaliatory actions over political coverage that threaten broadcast licenses. The lawsuit claims the Trump administration's campaign aims to coerce media companies and infringe on free speech.
ABC fires back at the FCC's investigation into The View's political candidate interviews, arguing it threatens editorial independence and violates the First Amendment.
The Trump administration's FCC warns all broadcasters to comply with orders or face punishment, citing ABC's ongoing case where Disney was ordered to submit early license renewals over alleged discrimination violations. ABC challenges the order as unconstitutional and retaliatory.