FCC Chairman Brendan Carr declared Wednesday that daytime and late-night talk shows—including ABC's "The View"—no longer automatically qualify for a "bona fide news" exemption under federal equal time rules
Such a declaration would strip shows such as "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and Stephen Colbert's "The Late Show" of the long-standing exemption that allowed one-sided political candidate appearances without triggering mandatory airtime for opponents.
The ol' "equal time" rule. The rule essentially states that if you're going to offer X amount of time to a political candidate, you have to give the same option to their opponent.
These shows have long skirted the rule regarding political candidates by masquerading as entertainment or comedy shows, when the hosts on the aforementioned broadcasts have clearly morphed into Democrat operatives pushing heavily biased faux news angles.
“The general rule is equal time applies,” Carr said. “There’s narrow exceptions you have to fit in.”
“Congress passed the equal time provision for a very specific reason,” he added. “They did not want the media leads in Hollywood and in New York to put their thumbs on the scale and pick their winners and losers in primaries and general elections. That’s the point.”
Nearly every significant daytime or late-night talk show is either hosted by raging liberals or has a leftist bent to its coverage of relevant news stories.
FCC chair Brendan Carr confirmed Wednesday that the commission has started enforcement proceedings that will look into The View‘s alleged violations of political equal time rules. https://t.co/PEuUELsnfY
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 19, 2026
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Carr's comments come as Colbert and the ladies of "The View" have come under fire for promoting Texas State Rep. James Talarico (D), a candidate running in the Democratic primary for Senate, while not giving equal time to his opponents.
Which is odd since one of his primary opponents is Rep. Jasmine Crockett (TX-30). Why don't they want to give her equal time?
Colbert accused the FCC of forcing him to spike his Talarico interview, a demonstrably false narrative, as RedState's Nick Arama reports.
Carr, though, has confirmed that the commission has initiated "enforcement proceedings" against "The View" for its interview with Talarico. He vowed to hold broadcasters accountable and warned that the era of unchecked partisan programming on public airwaves is over.
In an interview with Fox News personality Laura Ingraham, Carr declared that “the days that these legacy media broadcasters get to decide what we can say, what we can think, who we can vote for are over.”
The FCC Chair went on to explain that ABC has claimed that "The View" qualifies for a bona fide news exemption, allowing it to interview a political candidate without meeting equal time requirements.
I mean, just imagine that. Anyone with working eyes and ears knows the show doesn't meet the definition of news, period, "bona fide" or otherwise. No more so than a gaggle of Karens gossiping at the local hair salon does.
"Disney has a program called 'The View.' And they’ve been asserting the position that 'The View' is what's known as ‘bona fide news’ in the statute. If you are bona fide news, you don’t have to give candidates equal air time,” Carr said. “But Disney and 'The View' have not established that that program is, in fact, bona fide news."
"We’ve started enforcement proceedings, taking a look at that.”
“We’ve started enforcement proceedings.” Trump lapdog FCC Chairman Brendan Carr confirms he’s now investigating “The View”. He’s trying to stop the cohosts from being critical of Dear Leader. It’s not going to work, it’s only going to boost their ratings. pic.twitter.com/pFoRbIzvbL
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) February 19, 2026
Carr pointed out that the "equal time" rule has been in effect for decades and smashed the media narrative that finally enforcing it means he and President Trump are acting like authoritarians.
"What we're doing now is simply applying the law on the books in an even-handed manner," he explained. "And for people that benefited from a two-tier system of justice during the Biden years, it might feel like weaponization, but that doesn't make it so."
One of the more famous instances of the "equal time" rule coming into play during a political campaign came during the 2024 presidential election, when another faux comedy show pushing a political agenda—Saturday Night Live—was forced to provide President Trump equal air time after they allowed Kamala Harris to make an appearance.
Kamala Harris just had the weakest appearance I’ve ever seen on Saturday Night Live. pic.twitter.com/lo4MMo9kLR
— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) November 3, 2024
SNL had abandoned its rule against allowing presidential candidates to make cameos in its sketch comedy by squeezing Kamala in on the last episode of the season. And they probably thought they got away with it based on the timing. Carr, however, pointed out the violation, and NBC had to offer Trump two individual ad spots, one that aired during a NASCAR event and another during Sunday Night Football.
Carr, regarding "The View," has said the investigation has thus far been unable to establish the show as legitimate news.
“We encourage people to file petitions,” he said. “The ones we have seen have yet to establish that they qualify for the bona fide news exception.”
The Hollywood Reporter explained the ramifications of Carr's declaration that talk shows are not, as such, legitimate news: "Say goodbye to most appearances by political candidates on daytime and late-night talk shows."
Good. That means the shows will likely be exponentially more entertaining and intelligent going forward, not to mention operating in compliance with the law.
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