WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 — ABC late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel said Thursday an interview with Democratic Senate candidate James Tallarico will air on YouTube instead of during the network broadcast, citing threats from the Federal Communications Commission.

In January, the Republican-led FCC said daytime and late-night TV talk shows are no longer considered “true” news programs, which are exempt from equal-time rules that require them to give airtime to opposing candidates.

Kimmel said that for decades talk shows have been free to interview political candidates without being subject to those rules.

Tallarico is running against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in Texas in a race that could decide control of the U.S. Senate in November.

Kimmel revealed that he had previously interviewed US President Donald Trump as a candidate in 2016.

Kimmel said on Wednesday’s broadcast, “Now that he’s president, his FCC threatened me, threatened our show, threatened our network ABC, our affiliates, our local stations based on simple traditional editorial decisions — it seems like guest booking is something they don’t like.”

ABC declined to comment. The FCC had no immediate comment.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr ordered an expedited review of Disney’s eight company-owned ABC stations in April, even though license renewals were not to be considered until October 2028. The FCC had not ordered an expedited review in more than 50 years before April. The review was ordered a day after Trump urged ABC to fire Kimmel. Disney sued in August to block the early reviews, saying Trump was trying to punish the network for its content.

Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez condemned the FCC for saying that the agency had intimidated ABC into not airing it.

Gomez said, “The FCC has no legal authority to threaten broadcast licenses over guest booking or editorial decisions.” The FCC is also investigating the ABC daytime talk show “The View,” which discusses American politics, after an interview with Tallarico in January said it was subject to similar timeslot rules. Disney cited the FCC’s “pressure campaign” and said the program has not invited any political candidates since February. In February, former CBS Late Night host Stephen Colbert said that the network’s lawyers prevented him from airing an interview with Tallarico on his show and instead aired it on YouTube, where it has received more than 9.5 million views. Trump has repeatedly urged broadcasters to remove comedy or news programs he dislikes, or that make fun of or criticize him or his administration. He has also called for the FCC to strip stations of their licenses after criticizing news and other programming. Broadcast stations require an FCC license to use the public airwaves. While license revocation is extremely rare, critics say the threat of losing a license can put pressure on broadcasters and raise concerns about government interference in editorial and programming decisions. The network has extensive First Amendment protections over programming choices.

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