FCC chair rips Colbert 'hoax' after CBS denied blocking Talarico interview, says media fell for it

At the FCC's monthly press conference Wednesday, Carr said he was "highly entertained" by the saga that unfolded, calling it "one of the most fun days I've had in the job."

"Anybody that's, you know, not suffering from a terminal case of Trump Derangement Syndrome can see right away yesterday the exact story arc and how it was gonna play out," Carr told reporters. 

"You had a Democrat candidate who understood the way that the news media works, and he took advantage of all of your sort of prior conceptions to run the hoax, apparently for the purpose of raising money and getting clicks. And the news media played right into it.

"Yesterday was a perfect encapsulation of why the American people have more trust in gas station sushi than they do in the national news media. ... And you guys ate it up like slop," Carr continued. "And when it was pointed out to the facts were completely different than what the fake news media was running with, nobody did, like, an about-face or did a fact correction. They just pivoted and moved away."

"I think you guys should feel a bit ashamed for having been lied to and to just run with the lies. I think it was an embarrassing episode for the media," Carr added.

On Monday night, Colbert asserted that network lawyers at CBS halted the Talarico interview from airing.

"He was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network's lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast," Colbert told viewers.

Colbert fired back at the statement, telling viewers he wasn't approached by CBS before the statement was made.

"I don't know what this is about. For the record, I'm not even mad. I really don't want an adversarial relationship with the network. I've never had one," Colbert said. "I'm just so surprised that this giant, global corporation would not stand up to these bullies."

According to the policy, Talarico's Democratic primary rivals - Crockett and little-known candidate Ahmad Hassan - would require the same amount of airtime on the networks he appears on.

Colbert attempted to defend himself by pointing to the two interviews he had done with Crockett, except both were done before she launched her Senate bid in December.

Talarico's Colbert interview has reached nearly 6 million views on YouTube as of Wednesday afternoon, and his campaign announced raising $2.5 million in the 24 hours since the controversy erupted.

Liberal critics have accused CBS of attempted censorship, while conservative critics have accused Colbert of aiding Talarico and sidestepping the FCC rules to avoid promoting Crockett in the final stretch of the campaign. The primary election will be held March 3 in the closely watched race.