Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico knew his interview with late-night host Stephen Colbert wouldn’t air on television before he left for New York to do it, The New York Times reported on Saturday.

“Days before the trip, Mr. Colbert’s producers told them the network — nervous about federal regulators — would only post the interview online. The Talarico campaign had a choice: Cancel the trip and crow about the Trump administration trying to muzzle him, or say nothing, film the segment, and hope Mr. Colbert would tell his audience the story of federal interference,” the outlet reported.

Talarico sat down with Colbert in February for an interview that the show only posted to its YouTube channel. Colbert alleged CBS had prohibited them from airing the interview due to equal time constraints. However, CBS denied Colbert’s argument and said the show just needed to offer equal time to Talarico’s opponents.

“They said nothing and filmed. The YouTube clip gained more than 9 million viewers. Donations poured in. Internal campaign polling by his opponent showed the ground shift in Mr. Talarico’s direction,” the Times report continued.

COLBERT TRASHES ‘CRAP’ CBS STATEMENT DENYING NETWORK KILLED TALARICO INTERVIEW

Talarico blamed the situation on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) at the time in multiple posts to social media.

His opponent, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, who lost the race last week to Talarico, put the blame on CBS and Colbert. Crockett argued in statements to reporters and interviews that the government did not shut down the interview.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr told reporters he was “highly entertained” during a press conference that followed the back-and-forth, and added that it was “one of the most fun days I’ve had on the job, watching the hilarity of how this story played out.” 

Referring to Talarico, Carr said, “You had a Democrat candidate who understood the way that the news media works, and he took advantage of all your sort of prior conceptions to run a hoax, apparently for the purpose of raising money and getting clicks.”

BROADCAST BIAS: IDEA OF GIVING POLITICIANS EQUAL TIME SENDS COLBERT INTO A FURY

“As Jasmine Crockett herself came out yesterday afternoon and said, there was no censorship by the government here,” he added. 

Some media observers are arguing James Talarico’s late-night interview controversy with Colbert helped him defeat firebrand Crockett in the Democratic Senate primary.

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“A lot of that money we got in late from Colbert went to Spanish advertising,” Chuck Rocha, an adviser to Talarico’s campaign, told the Times. The outlet reported that the Hispanic vote helped push Talarico to victory over Crockett in the end. 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is warning state health agencies about potential Chinese spying through medical technology.

Abbott directed Texas state health agencies and public university systems to address potential cybersecurity risks linked to Chinese-manufactured medical devices, citing concerns that sensitive patient data could be accessed by foreign actors.

“Governor @GregAbbott_TX released a letter directing state health agencies to mitigate data privacy concerns related to Chinese-sourced medical technologies,” Abbott’s office wrote Monday on X, releasing the letter.

“The Chinese Communist Party will not be allowed to spy on Texans.”

CONDUENT DATA BREACH HITS MILLIONS ACROSS MULTIPLE STATES

In Monday’s letter to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), the Department of State Health Services (DSHS), the Texas Cyber Command (TXCC), and public university system chancellors, Abbott said recent federal warnings about vulnerabilities in certain patient monitoring devices underscore the need for heightened safeguards.

“Maintaining Texans’ physical security and protecting their personal privacy, especially as it relates to something as important and intimate as personal medical data, is of paramount importance,” Abbott wrote. “I will not let Communist China spy on Texans. State-owned medical facilities must ensure there are safeguards in place to protect Texans’ private medical data.”

The directive follows notices issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) warning that certain Chinese-manufactured patient monitors — including the Contec CMS8000 and Epsimed MN-120 — contain cybersecurity vulnerabilities that could allow unauthorized remote access and the exfiltration of protected health information.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS SOUND ALARM OVER CCP-LINKED FAKE RESEARCH THREATENING US TAXPAYER-FUNDED SCIENCE

“These notices confirm the warnings of experts who have elevated the proliferation of Chinese-manufactured smart medical devices across our healthcare system as a serious data privacy concern,” Abbott wrote.

Under Abbott’s order, HHSC, DSHS, and public higher education systems must review procurement policies to ensure compliance with Executive Order GA-48, catalog network-connected medical devices, and assess cybersecurity protections at state-owned medical facilities.

The Texas Cyber Command is tasked with reviewing whether certain devices should be added to the state’s prohibited technology list and recommending further safeguards.

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Agencies must submit reports and recommendations to the governor’s office by April 17.

Those responses will help Abbott propose legislation next session aimed at protecting Texans’ medical data from foreign adversaries.

PALM BEACH, Fla. — National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) chair Sen. Tim Scott says he remains “incredibly optimistic” the GOP can not only hold but expand its current 53–47 majority in the fall 2026 midterm elections.

But as Republicans battle stiff political headwinds as the party in power in the nation’s capital traditionally loses seats in the midterms, and as the GOP faces a rough political climate fueled by economic concerns amid persistent inflation and President Donald Trump’s underwater approval ratings, Scott isn’t sugar-coating things.

“There’s no doubt the climate has gotten more and more difficult by the day, it seems like at times,” Scott said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital at an annual economic conference in Florida hosted by the Club for Growth, an influential and politically potent conservative political group that pushes for fiscal responsibility.

Scott in early February gave fellow GOP senators some straight talk about the party’s chances in the midterm elections, when he briefed his colleagues at a closed-door meeting, according to sources in the room.

STRATEGY SESSION: TRUMP TEAM HUDDLES ON MIDTERM MESSAGING 

The NRSC chair told Fox News Digital in December 2025 that in the battle for the majority, “54 is clearly within our grasp right now, but with a little bit of luck, 55 is on our side.”

Asked again in his Fox News Digital interview Saturday, Scott said, “I think we have a possibility of more than 53 seats.”

MAJORITY AT RISK? — THESE SIX GOP HELD SENATE SEATS MOST AT JEAPARDY

“The good news is we have a president who made promises, he’s been keeping those promises, and we have been able to recruit the highest quality candidates anyone could want in every single battleground state,” Scott said. 

Highlighting seats the GOP’s aiming to flip, Scott pointed to Georgia, where Republicans view first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff as the most vulnerable Democrat seeking re-election in 2026. He also spotlighted open Democratic-held seats in battleground Michigan, swing state New Hampshire and blue-leaning Minnesota.

GOP CALLS TRUMP ITS ‘SECRET WEAPON’ — BUT POLLS SHOW WARNING SIGNS HEADING INTO MIDTERMS

Scott said he’s “incredibly optimistic, not only about holding the majority, but still expanding the majority through Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire and even Minnesota, we have a strong candidate.”

The candidate he was referring to in Minnesota is former NBC Sports reporter turned conservative activist and commentator Michele Tafoya.

But Democrats are targeting Maine, where longtime GOP Sen. Susan Collins is running for re-election in the blue-leaning northern New England state, and battleground North Carolina, where Republicans are defending an open seat in the race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis.

Democrats are also trying to flip GOP-held Senate seats in Texas, Ohio, Alaska and Iowa, which are all red states.

“Voters are sick and tired of Trump and Senate Republicans’ toxic agenda raising prices and threatening their health care,” the rival Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) emphasized in a social media post. “Voters across the country are ready to send Senate Republicans packing this November.”

PAXTON SAYS HE’S STAYING IN THE RACE EVEN IF TRUMP BACKS CORNYN

In Texas, the NRSC is backing longtime GOP Sen. John Cornyn, who is now facing off with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a MAGA firebrand, in a costly and combustible primary runoff.

Trump said in early March, following the primary election where no candidate in the crowded Republican field cracked 50% to win the nomination, that he would soon make an endorsement.

The NRSC and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who is also backing Cornyn, are concerned that a Paxton victory could give the Democrats a path to flipping the red seat, thanks to the state attorney general’s political baggage, including a plethora of past scandals and a current messy divorce.

“The one thing we know about John Cornyn is he will win Texas. If you want to have the clearest path of victory, John Cornyn is your guy,” Scott said. “President Trump is the only person that can make that a reality immediately through this runoff process.”

Scott said “we hope and pray” that Trump will endorse Cornyn. But he added: “The president is going to do what the president is going to do. I won’t pretend to influence his final decision, but I will say, I’m certainly praying for John Cornyn to be our our nominee.”

TRUMP ARGUES GAS PRICES SPIKE IS TEMPORARY

Oil prices have shot up in the week and a half since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, instantly resulting in higher costs for gasoline across America. That’s a major concern for Republicans in a midterm election cycle where the economy, and specifically affordability, is the top concern of voters.

“I think the economy will continue to get better month over month,” an optimistic Scott predicted. “I think the rest of this year we’ll see unfolding good information, good facts about why the American people should focus on the Republican Party and keep us in the majority.”

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And with the annual tax filing deadline just more than a month away, Scott touted the numerous tax cuts kicking in this year in the GOP’s sweeping “big, beautiful bill,” which Trump signed into law in summer 2025. 

Scott touted “a bigger tax return for millions of Americans, that’s great news. The more they see more money in their pockets, and the more they attribute it to the Republican Party, the better we’re going to do this election season.”