U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico’s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show garnered far more YouTube views than the final night of Trump’s GOP midterm convention, according to a report by Newsweek.
The Texas Democrat’s appearance — titled “Jimmy Kimmel’s Interview with James Talarico That the FCC Doesn’t Want You To See” — raked in 1.3 million views since it was posted Thursday night.
Meanwhile, a YouTube livestream of the second and final night of the Dallas convention — dubbed Trump-a-palooza — garnered just 17,000 views.
Given how obsessed Trump is with ratings, that’s gotta hurt.
However, the GOP convention still had the edge for overall views because it was also carried on cable TV — because, apparently, Trump’s FCC has no problem with that.
Fox News drew an average of 2.3 million viewers on the first night of the midterm convention on Wednesday, and it averaged 2.5 million during Trump’s speech, Newsweek reports.
Kimmel announced in a Wednesday social media video that his interview with Talarico would air on the Jimmy Kimmel Live YouTube channel rather than television, due to what he alleges were threats the FCC made to ABC to stop the segment from airing.
Many observers predicted that the alleged attempt at silencing Talarico would backfire and only amplify the interview. So far, the numbers seem to bear that out.
For many late-night TV viewers, the incident felt like a rerun.
“This is not the first time you have been demoted to YouTube,” Kimmel said during the sit-down interview.
In February, Stephen Colbert said that an interview with Talarico would only air on YouTube due to alleged pressure his network received from Trump’s FCC. This led to a surge in donations for the former schoolteacher and seminarian, who raised $2.3 million in just 24 hours, according to TV station KXAN.
Indeed, Talarico has drastically outraised his Republican opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The Democrat has hauled in more than $72 million since launching his Senate campaign last year, federal filings show. His rival has only pulled in $17 million.
“Why are they so scared of you?” Kimmel asked Talarico in the YouTube segment.
“Well, they are worried we’re going to win this race in Texas,” Talarico responded.
Polls show Talarico with a slight edge over Paxton in the consequential midterm election. If he wins the election, he would be the first Democrat to triumph in a statewide race since 1994.
The midterms take place Tuesday, Nov. 3. In Texas, the last day to register to vote is Oct. 5, and early voting starts Oct. 19.
Find out if you’re registered to vote on the Texas Secretary of State’s website.
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