'Daily Show' initiative urging viewers to seek office scrapped amid Paramount merger

Paramount is shelving a "Daily Show" initiative to encourage viewers to run for elected office out of fear that the Trump administration could block the company's pending acquisition deal.

The entertainment company's social impact team has been working on the "Take A Seat" civic participation program for months, partnering with the veterans group New Politics Leadership Academy, the progressive group Run For Something, and the right-leaning group Women’s Public Leadership Network.

Paramount put the campaign on hold and will make significant changes, reported Semafor.

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“Be the leader you’ve been complaining for!” read the copy on the website, which hadn't previously been shared publicly. “The Daily Show’s InDecision: Take A Seat is our effort to shine a light on local and state offices that you might not even know are out there, and encourage YOU to throw your hat in the ring. If you’re tired of complaining about who’s running things and want other people to complain about how YOU’RE running things, then now is your moment!”

The initiative was set to launch last week, but Paramount pulled back the plan at the last minute and will instead debut later this month with a different nonpartisan partner, HeadCount, said one person familiar with the plans, and will no longer work with organizations that have explicit political affiliations.

Paramount owner Shari Redstone has reportedly asked CBS News to hold off on sensitive reports about President Donald Trump until she closes a deal to merge with Skydance Media after he and Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr criticized some recent "60 Minutes" segments.

The company has made personal overtures to Trump by proposing to end its diversity efforts, but the president has continued attacking Paramount and CBS News over those critical "60 Minutes" reports, and the venerable news program lost longtime executive producer Bill Owens over Redstone's efforts to influence coverage.