On Tuesday afternoon, as public interest in the story grew, CBS issued a written statement insisting that Colbert was not prohibited from airing the Talarico interview. Rather, the network said the CBS lawyers “provided legal guidance,” which included “options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled.”
Soon after, while the host filmed Tuesday night’s show, Colbert referred to CBS’ statement as “crap” and picked up a copy of the statement in a dog waste bag. “I’m just so surprised that this giant global corporation would not stand up to these bullies,” he added.
The state legislator, who accused the FCC of “colluding” with CBS, told supporters at a rally in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday, “I think it’s safe to say that their plan backfired. These are the same people who ran against cancel culture, and now they’re trying to control what we watch, what we say, what we read. And this is the most dangerous kind of cancel culture, the kind that comes from the top.”
Interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiTJ7Pz_59A
I think the Church is one of the few institutions that culturally values good rhetorical techniques.
They’re all reading the same book, so the people that stand out are the ones who are expert public speakers and understand how to invoke feelings instead of just delivering a written message.
His style of speech screams ‘pastor’ to people who grew up in churches and for a lot of Texans that’s very compelling.
I never thought about it that was; that’s a great point about the mechanism for differentiation.
I hadn’t heard of him until today, but his messaging is on point and he isn’t shying away from the populist messaging.
Having someone who has the ability to inspire is a pretty powerful skill. Obama is another good example, his experience as a professor provides similar rhetorical skills.
I mean, there’s also some dangerous examples of charismatic populists in history… but I don’t read this guy as being cynically manipulative (though, I can be fooled like anyone else).