“The View” is facing a federal probe for allegedly violating “equal time” rules for political candidates after an interview with Texas Democrat James Talarico.
The Federal Communications Commission investigation comes weeks after the agency announced new guidance on the “statutory equal opportunities requirement” grounded in the New Deal-era Communications Act of 1934, saying it would apply to “late night and daytime talk shows.”
The probe, first reported by Fox News Digital, was sparked by Talarico’s Monday appearance on the show, a source told the outlet.
Talarico is battling Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) in an increasingly angry primary race for US Senate, while several Republicans are duking it out for the same seat. Crockett appeared on “The View” last month, before the FCC’s “equal time” announcement.
Incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), state Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) are all fighting for the GOP nomination and all could be entitled to time on “The View” if the FCC ultimately rules against ABC and its parent Disney company.
The Texas primary is set for March 3.
The FCC provides for a “bona fide” exception to the rules, which shields cable news shows from requirements of having to provide equal time to opposing candidates.
But the agency says it hasn’t been presented with “any evidence that the interview portion of any late-night or daytime television talk show program on the air presently would qualify for the ‘bona fide’ news exemption.”
President Trump has long railed against “The View” and many of its lefty hosts.
In July, the White House attacked host Joy Behar after she claimed the president was jealous of Barack Obama.
A White House spokesman called her an “irrelevant loser” who should reflect before “her show is the next to be pulled off air.”
That came after CBS cancelled another Trump rival and critic, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
