Clay Travis backs Jasmine Crockett, calls James Talarico's CBS interview a 'transparent rig job'

WASHINGTON,DC: Conservative commentator Clay Travis waded into the growing CBS - Colbert controversy on Friday, February 20 accusing Democrats of orchestrating what he described as a “rig job” designed to elevate Texas Democrat James Talarico.

Travis’ remarks came after Jasmine Crockett revealed she was never offered an appearance on Stephen Colbert’s show amid the dispute over equal-time rules despite previously appearing on the program.

Clay Travis accuses Democrats of bias

Posting a clip of Crockett’s interview with MS NOW, Travis sharply criticized what he sees as selective promotion within the Democratic Party.

In his caption, he wrote “Jasmine Crockett says Stephen Colbert didn’t offer her an interview opportunity, only Talarico got air time. This is such a transparent rig job. The Democrat party picked Talarico like they did Hillary Clinton back in 2016.”

Travis suggested party leaders were signaling a preferred candidate early in a race. His response comes even as the controversy between CBS and Stephen Colbert over airing of Talarico's interview continues to escalate. 

Jasmine Crockett sets the record straight

During a conversation with MS NOW, Crockett was asked whether she had received clarification about why Colbert’s interview with Talarico became entangled in equal-time concerns  and whether she had been invited on the show, especially after reports that Talarico raised $2.5 million following the publicity.

She responded “No, I've not been invited on Colbert prior to his interview nor post his interview.”

“Obviously, I've done Colbert twice in the past. And so there were questions that people had about whether or not basically equal time, so to speak, had been offered to me in order to try to avoid Brendan Carr and his mis-interpretation or his reinterpretation of the rules”,she added.

Crockett said she later received a phone call from a representative of CBS’s parent company.

“The only information that I got was after this debacle took place. I did receive a phone call from the parent company, from a representative for the parent company that basically said they did not tell them they couldn't air it. They just said, if you air it, just make sure that you offer the representative equal time.”

She added that she was not directly involved in the internal conversations.

“Now, obviously, I wasn't engaged in that conversation, so I cannot confirm the veracity of any statements. But I can confirm that I had never been asked to go on as relates to kind of talking about the Senate race.”