Stephen Colbert melts down after CBS pulls interview with Democrat just months before his show ends

Late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert lashed out at the Trump administration about equal time demands over an interview with a Democratic candidate trying to flip a U.S. Senate seat for Texas.

Colbert said the interview with Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico was axed after the Federal Communications Commission issued new guidance declaring that late-night shows needed to provide equal time to competing candidates in political races.

‘Because my network clearly does not want us to talk about this … let’s talk about this.’

“[Talarico] was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast,” said Colbert, who added that he was told by showrunners not to mention the issue.

“And because my network clearly does not want us to talk about this … let’s talk about this,” said Colbert.

He went on to post the interview with Talarico on social media rather than broadcast it. Colbert addressed FCC Chair Brendan Carr directly in his monologue.

“I think you are motivated by partisan purposes yourself,” said Colbert. “Let’s just call this what it is. Donald Trump’s administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV because all Trump does is watch TV. OK?”

In the interview posted online, Talarico praised Colbert and said he was an exemplar of Christianity.

“I just want to thank you, Stephen, because I know you’re not a politician, but you have really shown people in this country what Christianity should be and what it means to actually live out the teachings of Jesus, even in a talk show,” he said.

Colbert’s show will end in May, CBS announced in July after citing financial considerations. Many on the left have accused the Trump administration of using its influence to shut down the show over the host’s anti-Trump tirades.

Late-night and daytime talk shows had been previously exempted from the equal time rules before the new FCC guidance.

RELATED: Trump says Colbert is to blame for his show’s cancellation — but adds Kimmel and Fallon are next

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression also criticized the policy change at the FCC.

“By putting pressure on late-night talk shows critical of the Trump administration while openly admitting that conservative talk radio is immune from the FCC’s ire, he’s making himself the poster boy for big government putting its thumb on the scale of political debate,” said FIRE chief counsel Robert Corn-Revere in part.

“Carr used to say that the FCC cannot act as the nation’s speech police, but now that he is chairman, he has worn the badge proudly,” he added.

The president denied being solely responsible for the decision to end Colbert’s show.

“Everybody is saying that I was solely responsible for the firing of Stephen Colbert from CBS, Late Night. That is not true! The reason he was fired was a pure lack of TALENT, and the fact that this deficiency was costing CBS $50 Million Dollars a year in losses — And it was only going to get WORSE!” Trump wrote in July.

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