Feb. 19, 2026
It's Official: Trump is Investigating Whoopi
Apple Podcasts 
Spotify 
Castro 
RSS Feed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr confirmed — on two separate occasions — yesterday that an "enforcement action" has been initiated against ABC's "The View." The investigation was triggered based on the same rule and the same guest that put CBS and Stephen Colbert publicly at odds this week.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey, that folks. It is Thursday, February.
00:00:04
Speaker 2: Nineteenth, and it is official President Trump is investigating Whoopee Goldberg. But to be honest with you, I thought it was going on already. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. There's been a lot of FCC and back and forth and revoking licenses that don't like this daytime show, don't like this nighttime show. We got kind of official word. But are you surprised? I thought I swear they were going after the view already.
00:00:30
Speaker 3: Well, they've implied it, they've suggested it, but it was confirmed the officially by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.
00:00:37
Speaker 2: That's a big deal for him to come robes. The word investigation and the view are being used in the same sentence by the FCC chair.
00:00:45
Speaker 1: That is a first.
00:00:47
Speaker 2: Is that it's not terrifying, it's expected.
00:00:50
Speaker 3: Well, now it's expected, I would say a couple of years ago, the idea of that would be terrifying or concerning and potentially changing the landscape of daytime time television and nighttime television as well. And that is what we're looking at right now, a seismic shift in how daytime shows can and will operate in the future, and what we will be seeing and consuming in late night talk shows as well.
00:01:15
Speaker 2: So let's clear through all the clutter you've been hearing in the back and forth. And can you name another FCC chair that there's ever been besides Brendan Carr, who seems to be the most famous ever at this point, but he has been making a lot of headlines having to do with licenses. Jimmy Kimmel, Colbert c You gets go through the line. So let's get through and tell you what's happening now and why this is a big deal is because the FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, has confirmed for the first time publicly that an official enforcement action has been initiated against ABC's The View. He confirmed this at an open meeting of the FCC yesterday, and if you'd missed it in that long and what can sometimes be a boring meeting, if you missed it there, he went on Fox News last night at the the Ingram Angle and reconfirmed it again. Robes the View is under investigation now, I use Trump is investigating whoopee. The SEC is supposed to be an independent agency.
00:02:15
Speaker 1: Correct, Uh, yes, that is correct.
00:02:17
Speaker 3: It is technically an independent agency, but you're working under the Trump administration.
00:02:26
Speaker 2: Who appointed all these correct.
00:02:28
Speaker 3: And so yes they are operating under the direction of President Trump.
00:02:35
Speaker 1: Technically technically yes, supposed to be.
00:02:38
Speaker 2: But yes, he appointed all these folks. And we understand Brendan Carr has been out there as a soldier for President Trump. So yes, Robes, this is significant. It is a big deal. Why, though, Robes are they going after the view? It's been a hell of a week for broadcasters in the FCC. Yes, it be all over a guy we never heard of before Monday. Oh my goods.
00:03:00
Speaker 3: Yes, this is all over this equal time rule that basically, if you are a bona fide, if you are a true news program, you get an exemption from having to give equal time to political candidates, and notably during an election year where an election result would be at stake. That makes sense because obviously politicians are in the news cycle. We report as journalists on politicians, and it doesn't mean just because we talk to or talk about one candidate that we have to necessarily give equal time to the other. And so now and for decades, talk shows and late night talk shows have all operated under this same umbrella of being a bonafide news program, and that is where Brendan Carr is calling BS. He's saying, these shows are entertainment shows. These are not bonafide news programs. Therefore they should fall into this equal time rule. If they put on one candidate, they have to give the same opportunity to all other candidates in that race.
00:04:02
Speaker 2: No one is nobody's crazy enough to think right that Colbert Show and Kim Will's show are news shows the same or.
00:04:08
Speaker 1: Even the viewed to that end, they're offering opinions.
00:04:11
Speaker 2: They have news makers on and fine, but think of it this way. You remember Bill Clinton playing the saxophone our Sinel Hall's show. That moment couldn't have happened if Brendan Carr and crew were implementing this rule. It's been understood there is an exception. It's an entertainment show, So you can have a different type, you don't fall under the same rule. And that's been understood from the beginning of FCC time. It's that simple. So why are they trying to enforce the rule in a different way, many will ask, and many will answer that question, is that they see some of these shows the view Jimmy Kimmel Colbert as pushing their own political agendas and their leanings with the guests that they put on. And they say that robes is where violation now comes in and why they need to apply this rule.
00:05:03
Speaker 3: And yes, and so this is obviously causing huge waves in the broadcasting world. And I thought it was so interesting. Brendan Carr last night, in reacting to the reaction from CBS from Colbert, and we haven't heard anything technically from the view or from ABC, but this quote got me. He said that yesterday he was highly entertained. He said, I think it was one of the most fun days I've had in the job watching sort of the hilarity of how this story played out. Talking about Colbert publicly talking about how he was not allowed to he says, air an interview with a candidate, a Texas candidate who yes, no one would have known his name up until this week.
00:05:50
Speaker 1: James Talerico, correct.
00:05:53
Speaker 3: And I'm saying this because look, this isn't a politician or a candidate who anybody would have known the name of otherwise if you didn't live in the state of Texas.
00:06:02
Speaker 2: Okay, let's get this together before he goes. We have We've been reporting on this, and we actually did a full episode about the CBS versus Colbert back and forth. He called out his own network, his own bosses, because he said that an interview he had with James Silleriko from Texas, a Senate candidate down there, a Democrat. He said the network told him he could not put that on on Monday. So he goes on on Tuesday and Monday and Blast is on network. In the back and forth, CBS put out its own statements said no, no, no, no, no, we didn't tell him he could not do this. Rather, Robes, they said, we gave him legal guidance saying that this if you put this guy on your broadcast, it could trigger an FCC investigation over the equal time rule. That's all they said they did. They warned him, The view went ahead with their interview with the same guy on Monday. Now they are under investigation. CBS now point to this and said, see, Colbert, we told you what might happen, and look it's happening to the view.
00:07:07
Speaker 3: We protected you, and more importantly, we protected ourselves.
00:07:11
Speaker 2: At our bottom line.
00:07:13
Speaker 1: Because it's expensive fighting a lawsuit. Period.
00:07:16
Speaker 3: That is obvious to just about anyone who runs a business and so yes, to avoid said lawsuit, you tell your staff or you tell Stephen Colbert. We're not even going to consider this if it is going to initiate a lawsuit.
00:07:31
Speaker 1: We can't afford this. It's not worth it.
00:07:33
Speaker 3: And here is what Brendan Carr said and what CBS maintained. Brendan car said, CBS was very clear that Stephen Colbert could run that interview, but you have to comply with equal time, which means giving exact the exact same amount of time to the other candidates in that race, Jasmine Crockett and another candidate. But they but Brendan car said, instead of doing that, and that was clearly an option they had, they claim.
00:08:00
Speaker 1: That they were victims.
00:08:03
Speaker 3: This was all about a political candidate trying to get attention and clicks, and the news media ran with it like lemmings. They just ate it up. That's not a correct depiction of what's going on. It was less about trying to get clicks and attention for this political candidate. It was more about fighting for their right to do things as they have always done for the past two decades.
00:08:22
Speaker 2: And look, I don't know what's in Colbert's heart. I know he goes after Trump every single chance he gets true excuse me, every single night.
00:08:31
Speaker 1: Which would yes translate to every single evening.
00:08:34
Speaker 2: Every single evening he does this. I can't speak on his motivations. I know, though, Robes, something has happened to where the rules are being changed from what they always have been, and that certainly has to do with the political times that we're in. But Robes, at the same time, he's had tons of political candidates on. I don't know how they're picking and choosing who to challenge you when to enforce the rule. Car wanted to point out that the other candidate that had to be on would have been a Democrat. I think he said two other candidates. I don't know if he's talking about Cornyn on the Republican side, but he said there were two others. So he's saying this, what do you call it? Democrat on democrat violence? Yes, he says, all this has to do with anyway, So I thought still that too, Robes is interesting. Why why are they making the point now when it has to do with Democrats? That seems like a.
00:09:28
Speaker 3: Strategy absolutely, because then they can't be pointed to as saying, well, we want to insist that you put a Republican on. No, they're just saying, hey, within the primary itself, you have to give equal opportunity to each candidate. So it doesn't look as if they're favoring a political group or a political party, but just the essence of what they claim the law is and how it should have been applied and has not been applied up until now.
00:09:55
Speaker 2: Do I have right making sure you haven't seen either? But at this point haven't heard a respon yet from the.
00:10:00
Speaker 1: View, not from the View or from ABC.
00:10:04
Speaker 2: Wonder if we will get one. I assume lawyers are going to be working very carefully to craft those. However, all of this, folks, could have been avoided by Colbert Robes. You hit on it a moment ago, but there were very clear easy ways for him to avoid this all together. We'll explain what the FCC says his options should have been.
00:10:29
Speaker 3: Stay here, Welcome back everyone to this episode of Amy and TJ, where we are talking about the ongoing saga between the FCC chairman and several broadcast news outlets. And of note, we now have confirmation from Brendan Carr himself that the view is being investigated, and there could be possible in worsemant action because they say they are going to look into and impose this equal time rule that has not up until this date, ever been applied to daytime talk shows nighttime talk shows. But now the FCC seems to be going after these programs that put a political candidate on the air and don't offer or give equal time to other political candidates in that race. And so specifically they're going after the View for putting on this Texas Senate candidate that Colbert was told he couldn't put on his show, so he put on his YouTube channel, and the View decided to put on their air anyway. And so now they are being investigated.
00:11:45
Speaker 2: No, I don't know what. I don't know what it could possibly look like because we're not They're fines sometimes when there's profanity correct right, they can be big fines. But I don't know what exactly the punishment could be. There could be fines. We're talking about revoking licenses. They keep threatening that.
00:12:06
Speaker 3: They threatened that all the time to revoke a broadcast license. Would that mean that ABC would not exist, would not be allowed to put on programming period from entertainment to like their channel would poof disappear. That seems that's extreme.
00:12:23
Speaker 2: That's not knna well or we don't think that's going to happen. But what the options here are? H eaes he and by the way you said, he put it online, got much more in terms of viewership online that he would have ever gotten at the.
00:12:38
Speaker 1: Broadcast, right, like millions and millions and millions of views and.
00:12:42
Speaker 2: How much of the last I saw, No, it's way above. But two and a half to three million dollars this guy raised in twenty four hours after all this.
00:12:48
Speaker 3: It was his single biggest donation day he has ever had. So this was the best thing that could have ever happened to this senate candidate.
00:12:57
Speaker 2: Can you name another state senator from any state in America?
00:13:02
Speaker 1: That No, absolutely not.
00:13:04
Speaker 2: That's the thing he is. He is now blown up into this thing based on this incident. The thing Brandon Carr I remembered here he said that he had options that they gave When CBS said they gave Colbert options, there's a back and forth. I don't know who to believe, but those two sides are telling two very different stories about what actually took place, and CBS is saying flat out they are flat out denying. No, we did not tell you couldn't. We warned you that doing so could trigger an action That is exactly what happened to the view ropes. What do you I mean? Are they right? Should they have been wanting to? No, you do your thing and will support you no matter what.
00:13:44
Speaker 1: I mean.
00:13:44
Speaker 2: He's out of there in May. Are they really going to go to bat for Stephen Colbert right now?
00:13:49
Speaker 3: It appears the answer is no, because they put out a statement completely refuting what he said on the air. So that is not a typical back and forth that you would see between an employee and an employe, or especially a public company with a public face of your brand. The only way that this is even playing out the way it is is because even Colbert has a very finite end date in May, so he knows he can and they kind of know he'll be gone in a couple months anyway. And hey, they're getting significant ratings because of this. So I don't know, in a weird way, does everybody win.
00:14:26
Speaker 2: Because doesn't this look bad again for CBS? Doesn't it continue? Now? I will say the statement they put out, but will you can't take anybody at their word, it seems these.
00:14:33
Speaker 3: Days, and it looks look at this, I would say this, it looks bad for CBS. If you agree with Colbert. I think there are plenty of people out there who think that these programs have been using public airwaves to promote a liberal agenda, and they're happy to see the FCCS stepping in and calling them on that. So there might be a huge group of people who are applauding this and saying, good for you, CBS, you know, need to go ahead and uphold the law which you are now being told. Is this curious to see.
00:15:04
Speaker 2: If they'll put out another statement CBS essentially saying told you so because they they warned. You know what was the line Colbert had in which he said, my network is unilatterally enforcing this thing, even though just based on a warning and not anything.
00:15:24
Speaker 1: Correct correct, It was something to that effect.
00:15:26
Speaker 3: He was just saying, they're basically enforcing something that the FCC hasn't even publicly imposed. So they're anticipating him potentially imposing this, and they're already backing off of something that hasn't even become official yet.
00:15:41
Speaker 1: But they were right.
00:15:43
Speaker 2: Is the thing. This story has changed robes. Y'all are doing this based on a threat and they are seeing through on the threat to another show who had the exact same guy on and did the exact same thing. It is fascinating now the bonus I knew this was. I thought interesting that Carr said to Lori Ingram, these shows knock yourself out. Disney ABC reach out to us and tell us that these shows are bonafide news shows, problem solved, and that they said they have not applied for that status.
00:16:15
Speaker 1: And how can they? I mean, I'm just curious. Look, we I've been on The View.
00:16:21
Speaker 3: This is I was always a little nervous when I was on the View because our jobs were to not give our view as journalists for ABC News. I remember thinking, how am I on a show called The View while I'm still trying to maintain partiality or impartiality as a journalist. It was always a little bit of a delicate dance. So I am trying to imagine how or even if Disney ABC News tries to prove that The View is a bona fide news program, no taking the.
00:16:49
Speaker 2: Show is they cannot It's over. In the segment called hot Takes, or hot something or hot topics, hot topics. They give opinion for fifteen minutes.
00:16:58
Speaker 3: Which was always such a scary, scary part.
00:17:02
Speaker 1: Of being on that show. I loved it. As a journalist. Oh I just thought I'm one comment.
00:17:08
Speaker 3: One statement away from losing my job. I just I always felt nervous in those moments because it is a hard dance to I mean, I ended up not saying a lot, just because you can't necessarily chime in on what you think or what you feel when you're a journalist. So that is to their point, and I don't know how. It'll be curious to see how Disney or ABC handles.
00:17:30
Speaker 2: This carefully, quietly, legally. At this point, maybe we'll take a peek and see what the ladies of the View are going to be up to for the next several days and see how they handle this. But we wanted to give you this update. This is significant when you hear that one of the we have a daytime institution now that is under investigation for enforcement action possibility by the FCC and the Trump administration over an interview in which they say equal time was not giving. Politics is playing greatly into this, and I think Robes it's We would be silly to think there's not some some personal feelings here involved.
00:18:08
Speaker 3: Look, this is a mid term electioneer, and so much is at stake, and so yes, we have seen this administration make some choices and make some statements that we have not seen or heard before. But there is a political a massive political fight for balance and power playing out right now in twenty twenty six, and it is happening on a very public stage on some of the very programs that many of us have leaned or looked to for entertainment.
00:18:37
Speaker 1: And news value.
00:18:38
Speaker 3: So we shall see how this all plays out and how it may impact the future of daytime and nighttime television at least for the next couple of years, but we will keep our eye on it. You can count on us for that and so much more. Today on this very very busy news day, we thank you for listening. As always, I'm Amy Robock alongside Teachay Holmes, and we will talk to you soon.
Speaker 1: Hey, that folks. It is Thursday, February.
00:00:04
Speaker 2: Nineteenth, and it is official President Trump is investigating Whoopee Goldberg. But to be honest with you, I thought it was going on already. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. There's been a lot of FCC and back and forth and revoking licenses that don't like this daytime show, don't like this nighttime show. We got kind of official word. But are you surprised? I thought I swear they were going after the view already.
00:00:30
Speaker 3: Well, they've implied it, they've suggested it, but it was confirmed the officially by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.
00:00:37
Speaker 2: That's a big deal for him to come robes. The word investigation and the view are being used in the same sentence by the FCC chair.
00:00:45
Speaker 1: That is a first.
00:00:47
Speaker 2: Is that it's not terrifying, it's expected.
00:00:50
Speaker 3: Well, now it's expected, I would say a couple of years ago, the idea of that would be terrifying or concerning and potentially changing the landscape of daytime time television and nighttime television as well. And that is what we're looking at right now, a seismic shift in how daytime shows can and will operate in the future, and what we will be seeing and consuming in late night talk shows as well.
00:01:15
Speaker 2: So let's clear through all the clutter you've been hearing in the back and forth. And can you name another FCC chair that there's ever been besides Brendan Carr, who seems to be the most famous ever at this point, but he has been making a lot of headlines having to do with licenses. Jimmy Kimmel, Colbert c You gets go through the line. So let's get through and tell you what's happening now and why this is a big deal is because the FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, has confirmed for the first time publicly that an official enforcement action has been initiated against ABC's The View. He confirmed this at an open meeting of the FCC yesterday, and if you'd missed it in that long and what can sometimes be a boring meeting, if you missed it there, he went on Fox News last night at the the Ingram Angle and reconfirmed it again. Robes the View is under investigation now, I use Trump is investigating whoopee. The SEC is supposed to be an independent agency.
00:02:15
Speaker 1: Correct, Uh, yes, that is correct.
00:02:17
Speaker 3: It is technically an independent agency, but you're working under the Trump administration.
00:02:26
Speaker 2: Who appointed all these correct.
00:02:28
Speaker 3: And so yes they are operating under the direction of President Trump.
00:02:35
Speaker 1: Technically technically yes, supposed to be.
00:02:38
Speaker 2: But yes, he appointed all these folks. And we understand Brendan Carr has been out there as a soldier for President Trump. So yes, Robes, this is significant. It is a big deal. Why, though, Robes are they going after the view? It's been a hell of a week for broadcasters in the FCC. Yes, it be all over a guy we never heard of before Monday. Oh my goods.
00:03:00
Speaker 3: Yes, this is all over this equal time rule that basically, if you are a bona fide, if you are a true news program, you get an exemption from having to give equal time to political candidates, and notably during an election year where an election result would be at stake. That makes sense because obviously politicians are in the news cycle. We report as journalists on politicians, and it doesn't mean just because we talk to or talk about one candidate that we have to necessarily give equal time to the other. And so now and for decades, talk shows and late night talk shows have all operated under this same umbrella of being a bonafide news program, and that is where Brendan Carr is calling BS. He's saying, these shows are entertainment shows. These are not bonafide news programs. Therefore they should fall into this equal time rule. If they put on one candidate, they have to give the same opportunity to all other candidates in that race.
00:04:02
Speaker 2: No one is nobody's crazy enough to think right that Colbert Show and Kim Will's show are news shows the same or.
00:04:08
Speaker 1: Even the viewed to that end, they're offering opinions.
00:04:11
Speaker 2: They have news makers on and fine, but think of it this way. You remember Bill Clinton playing the saxophone our Sinel Hall's show. That moment couldn't have happened if Brendan Carr and crew were implementing this rule. It's been understood there is an exception. It's an entertainment show, So you can have a different type, you don't fall under the same rule. And that's been understood from the beginning of FCC time. It's that simple. So why are they trying to enforce the rule in a different way, many will ask, and many will answer that question, is that they see some of these shows the view Jimmy Kimmel Colbert as pushing their own political agendas and their leanings with the guests that they put on. And they say that robes is where violation now comes in and why they need to apply this rule.
00:05:03
Speaker 3: And yes, and so this is obviously causing huge waves in the broadcasting world. And I thought it was so interesting. Brendan Carr last night, in reacting to the reaction from CBS from Colbert, and we haven't heard anything technically from the view or from ABC, but this quote got me. He said that yesterday he was highly entertained. He said, I think it was one of the most fun days I've had in the job watching sort of the hilarity of how this story played out. Talking about Colbert publicly talking about how he was not allowed to he says, air an interview with a candidate, a Texas candidate who yes, no one would have known his name up until this week.
00:05:50
Speaker 1: James Talerico, correct.
00:05:53
Speaker 3: And I'm saying this because look, this isn't a politician or a candidate who anybody would have known the name of otherwise if you didn't live in the state of Texas.
00:06:02
Speaker 2: Okay, let's get this together before he goes. We have We've been reporting on this, and we actually did a full episode about the CBS versus Colbert back and forth. He called out his own network, his own bosses, because he said that an interview he had with James Silleriko from Texas, a Senate candidate down there, a Democrat. He said the network told him he could not put that on on Monday. So he goes on on Tuesday and Monday and Blast is on network. In the back and forth, CBS put out its own statements said no, no, no, no, no, we didn't tell him he could not do this. Rather, Robes, they said, we gave him legal guidance saying that this if you put this guy on your broadcast, it could trigger an FCC investigation over the equal time rule. That's all they said they did. They warned him, The view went ahead with their interview with the same guy on Monday. Now they are under investigation. CBS now point to this and said, see, Colbert, we told you what might happen, and look it's happening to the view.
00:07:07
Speaker 3: We protected you, and more importantly, we protected ourselves.
00:07:11
Speaker 2: At our bottom line.
00:07:13
Speaker 1: Because it's expensive fighting a lawsuit. Period.
00:07:16
Speaker 3: That is obvious to just about anyone who runs a business and so yes, to avoid said lawsuit, you tell your staff or you tell Stephen Colbert. We're not even going to consider this if it is going to initiate a lawsuit.
00:07:31
Speaker 1: We can't afford this. It's not worth it.
00:07:33
Speaker 3: And here is what Brendan Carr said and what CBS maintained. Brendan car said, CBS was very clear that Stephen Colbert could run that interview, but you have to comply with equal time, which means giving exact the exact same amount of time to the other candidates in that race, Jasmine Crockett and another candidate. But they but Brendan car said, instead of doing that, and that was clearly an option they had, they claim.
00:08:00
Speaker 1: That they were victims.
00:08:03
Speaker 3: This was all about a political candidate trying to get attention and clicks, and the news media ran with it like lemmings. They just ate it up. That's not a correct depiction of what's going on. It was less about trying to get clicks and attention for this political candidate. It was more about fighting for their right to do things as they have always done for the past two decades.
00:08:22
Speaker 2: And look, I don't know what's in Colbert's heart. I know he goes after Trump every single chance he gets true excuse me, every single night.
00:08:31
Speaker 1: Which would yes translate to every single evening.
00:08:34
Speaker 2: Every single evening he does this. I can't speak on his motivations. I know, though, Robes, something has happened to where the rules are being changed from what they always have been, and that certainly has to do with the political times that we're in. But Robes, at the same time, he's had tons of political candidates on. I don't know how they're picking and choosing who to challenge you when to enforce the rule. Car wanted to point out that the other candidate that had to be on would have been a Democrat. I think he said two other candidates. I don't know if he's talking about Cornyn on the Republican side, but he said there were two others. So he's saying this, what do you call it? Democrat on democrat violence? Yes, he says, all this has to do with anyway, So I thought still that too, Robes is interesting. Why why are they making the point now when it has to do with Democrats? That seems like a.
00:09:28
Speaker 3: Strategy absolutely, because then they can't be pointed to as saying, well, we want to insist that you put a Republican on. No, they're just saying, hey, within the primary itself, you have to give equal opportunity to each candidate. So it doesn't look as if they're favoring a political group or a political party, but just the essence of what they claim the law is and how it should have been applied and has not been applied up until now.
00:09:55
Speaker 2: Do I have right making sure you haven't seen either? But at this point haven't heard a respon yet from the.
00:10:00
Speaker 1: View, not from the View or from ABC.
00:10:04
Speaker 2: Wonder if we will get one. I assume lawyers are going to be working very carefully to craft those. However, all of this, folks, could have been avoided by Colbert Robes. You hit on it a moment ago, but there were very clear easy ways for him to avoid this all together. We'll explain what the FCC says his options should have been.
00:10:29
Speaker 3: Stay here, Welcome back everyone to this episode of Amy and TJ, where we are talking about the ongoing saga between the FCC chairman and several broadcast news outlets. And of note, we now have confirmation from Brendan Carr himself that the view is being investigated, and there could be possible in worsemant action because they say they are going to look into and impose this equal time rule that has not up until this date, ever been applied to daytime talk shows nighttime talk shows. But now the FCC seems to be going after these programs that put a political candidate on the air and don't offer or give equal time to other political candidates in that race. And so specifically they're going after the View for putting on this Texas Senate candidate that Colbert was told he couldn't put on his show, so he put on his YouTube channel, and the View decided to put on their air anyway. And so now they are being investigated.
00:11:45
Speaker 2: No, I don't know what. I don't know what it could possibly look like because we're not They're fines sometimes when there's profanity correct right, they can be big fines. But I don't know what exactly the punishment could be. There could be fines. We're talking about revoking licenses. They keep threatening that.
00:12:06
Speaker 3: They threatened that all the time to revoke a broadcast license. Would that mean that ABC would not exist, would not be allowed to put on programming period from entertainment to like their channel would poof disappear. That seems that's extreme.
00:12:23
Speaker 2: That's not knna well or we don't think that's going to happen. But what the options here are? H eaes he and by the way you said, he put it online, got much more in terms of viewership online that he would have ever gotten at the.
00:12:38
Speaker 1: Broadcast, right, like millions and millions and millions of views and.
00:12:42
Speaker 2: How much of the last I saw, No, it's way above. But two and a half to three million dollars this guy raised in twenty four hours after all this.
00:12:48
Speaker 3: It was his single biggest donation day he has ever had. So this was the best thing that could have ever happened to this senate candidate.
00:12:57
Speaker 2: Can you name another state senator from any state in America?
00:13:02
Speaker 1: That No, absolutely not.
00:13:04
Speaker 2: That's the thing he is. He is now blown up into this thing based on this incident. The thing Brandon Carr I remembered here he said that he had options that they gave When CBS said they gave Colbert options, there's a back and forth. I don't know who to believe, but those two sides are telling two very different stories about what actually took place, and CBS is saying flat out they are flat out denying. No, we did not tell you couldn't. We warned you that doing so could trigger an action That is exactly what happened to the view ropes. What do you I mean? Are they right? Should they have been wanting to? No, you do your thing and will support you no matter what.
00:13:44
Speaker 1: I mean.
00:13:44
Speaker 2: He's out of there in May. Are they really going to go to bat for Stephen Colbert right now?
00:13:49
Speaker 3: It appears the answer is no, because they put out a statement completely refuting what he said on the air. So that is not a typical back and forth that you would see between an employee and an employe, or especially a public company with a public face of your brand. The only way that this is even playing out the way it is is because even Colbert has a very finite end date in May, so he knows he can and they kind of know he'll be gone in a couple months anyway. And hey, they're getting significant ratings because of this. So I don't know, in a weird way, does everybody win.
00:14:26
Speaker 2: Because doesn't this look bad again for CBS? Doesn't it continue? Now? I will say the statement they put out, but will you can't take anybody at their word, it seems these.
00:14:33
Speaker 3: Days, and it looks look at this, I would say this, it looks bad for CBS. If you agree with Colbert. I think there are plenty of people out there who think that these programs have been using public airwaves to promote a liberal agenda, and they're happy to see the FCCS stepping in and calling them on that. So there might be a huge group of people who are applauding this and saying, good for you, CBS, you know, need to go ahead and uphold the law which you are now being told. Is this curious to see.
00:15:04
Speaker 2: If they'll put out another statement CBS essentially saying told you so because they they warned. You know what was the line Colbert had in which he said, my network is unilatterally enforcing this thing, even though just based on a warning and not anything.
00:15:24
Speaker 1: Correct correct, It was something to that effect.
00:15:26
Speaker 3: He was just saying, they're basically enforcing something that the FCC hasn't even publicly imposed. So they're anticipating him potentially imposing this, and they're already backing off of something that hasn't even become official yet.
00:15:41
Speaker 1: But they were right.
00:15:43
Speaker 2: Is the thing. This story has changed robes. Y'all are doing this based on a threat and they are seeing through on the threat to another show who had the exact same guy on and did the exact same thing. It is fascinating now the bonus I knew this was. I thought interesting that Carr said to Lori Ingram, these shows knock yourself out. Disney ABC reach out to us and tell us that these shows are bonafide news shows, problem solved, and that they said they have not applied for that status.
00:16:15
Speaker 1: And how can they? I mean, I'm just curious. Look, we I've been on The View.
00:16:21
Speaker 3: This is I was always a little nervous when I was on the View because our jobs were to not give our view as journalists for ABC News. I remember thinking, how am I on a show called The View while I'm still trying to maintain partiality or impartiality as a journalist. It was always a little bit of a delicate dance. So I am trying to imagine how or even if Disney ABC News tries to prove that The View is a bona fide news program, no taking the.
00:16:49
Speaker 2: Show is they cannot It's over. In the segment called hot Takes, or hot something or hot topics, hot topics. They give opinion for fifteen minutes.
00:16:58
Speaker 3: Which was always such a scary, scary part.
00:17:02
Speaker 1: Of being on that show. I loved it. As a journalist. Oh I just thought I'm one comment.
00:17:08
Speaker 3: One statement away from losing my job. I just I always felt nervous in those moments because it is a hard dance to I mean, I ended up not saying a lot, just because you can't necessarily chime in on what you think or what you feel when you're a journalist. So that is to their point, and I don't know how. It'll be curious to see how Disney or ABC handles.
00:17:30
Speaker 2: This carefully, quietly, legally. At this point, maybe we'll take a peek and see what the ladies of the View are going to be up to for the next several days and see how they handle this. But we wanted to give you this update. This is significant when you hear that one of the we have a daytime institution now that is under investigation for enforcement action possibility by the FCC and the Trump administration over an interview in which they say equal time was not giving. Politics is playing greatly into this, and I think Robes it's We would be silly to think there's not some some personal feelings here involved.
00:18:08
Speaker 3: Look, this is a mid term electioneer, and so much is at stake, and so yes, we have seen this administration make some choices and make some statements that we have not seen or heard before. But there is a political a massive political fight for balance and power playing out right now in twenty twenty six, and it is happening on a very public stage on some of the very programs that many of us have leaned or looked to for entertainment.
00:18:37
Speaker 1: And news value.
00:18:38
Speaker 3: So we shall see how this all plays out and how it may impact the future of daytime and nighttime television at least for the next couple of years, but we will keep our eye on it. You can count on us for that and so much more. Today on this very very busy news day, we thank you for listening. As always, I'm Amy Robock alongside Teachay Holmes, and we will talk to you soon.