On February 6, 2026, the FCC launched an investigation into ABC’s “The View” for potentially violating equal time rules under the 1934 Communications Act, triggered by Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico’s appearance. The agency clarified that talk shows no longer qualify as “bona fide” news shows, which are exempt from providing airtime to opposing candidates, including Republicans like Sen. John Cornyn and other Democrats.
Critically, the ABC did not file an equal-time notice, implying it views the show as news rather than commentary. FCC Chair Brendan Carr defended the agency’s enforcement of the 1950s-era law amid backlash from biased hosts such as Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert, who called it a threat to free speech.
“Fake News is not getting a free pass anymore,” said an anonymous source at the FCC, echoing official statements. The newest announcement from the FCC declared that the agency “has not been presented with any evidence that the interview portion of any late-night or daytime television talk show program on the air presently would qualify for the ‘bona fide’ news exemption.”
In an earlier statement on the same topic, the FCC noted, “Indeed, the FCC has specifically noted that certain programs that might otherwise be exempt would be excluded from an exemption category if the program was ‘designed for the specific advantage of a candidate.’”
The same source added, “The federal equal opportunities regulations operate to prevent broadcast television stations, which have been given access to a valuable public resource (namely, spectrum), from unfairly putting their thumbs on the scale for one political candidate or set of candidates over another.”
“These regulations, which do not apply to cable channels or other forms of distribution, represent, in codified form, the decision by Congress that broadcast television stations have an obligation to operate in the public interest — not in any narrow partisan, political interest,” the FCC explained.
However, biased liberal bureaucrats, like FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, freaked out about the decision, saying, “Let’s be clear on what this is. This is government intimidation, not a legitimate investigation. Like many other so-called ‘investigations’ before it, the FCC will announce an investigation but never carry one out, reach a conclusion, or take any meaningful action.”
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“The real purpose is to weaponize the FCC’s regulatory authority to intimidate perceived critics of this Administration and chill protected speech,” the irritating progressive claimed in her unprofessional statement.
Gomez concluded, “The First Amendment protects the right of daytime and late-night programs to cover newsworthy issues and express viewpoints without government interference. I urge
broadcasters and their parent networks to stand strong against these unfounded attacks
and continue exercising their constitutional rights without fear or favor.”
Likewise, Stephen Colbert alleged, “I’m flattered you think appearing on my show has the power to affect politics in any way. If my influence were truly that strong, you would not have the power to make this announcement.”
“Broadcast TV used to be the whole pond. Now we’re the mashed potatoes on a Las Vegas buffet — and the FCC wants to mash us even more,” quipped infamous liberal Jimmy Kimmel in a weak attempt at humor all too typical of the woke celebrity.
Featured image: Nick Step, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joybeharpic.jpg