President Donald Trump's administration may have elevated a Democratic Senate candidate by strong-arming CBS into calling off an interview with him, according to a new analysis.
Late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert told viewers that said CBS didn't air his interview Monday with Texas state Rep. James Talarico out of fear of regulatory action by the Federal Communications Commission, which the network denies, but CNN's Harry Enten said new data shows the administration's threat could have backfired.
"There's a real Barbra Streisandeffect going on here," Enten said. "What arewe talking about here? Well,take a look here on Google. Google searches for James Talarico inthe U.S. up 4,900 percent today versus Monday. How about in Texas, whereyou have that key Senate racegoing on there – up like a rocket. We're talking about up 1,150 percent.So this has actually been verygood news for James Talarico.You want that attention. Youhave that primary going on in afew weeks, and he's absolutelygotten it both nationwide and ofcourse, very importantly in thestate of Texas as well, thehighest on record."
Talarico is running a closely contested Democratic primary race against Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) for a chance to face off against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) or state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who are locked in a close primary challenge themselves.
"There are a lot of Democratsnationwide who want Talarico towin," Enten said, "and obviously this extraattention will certainly help, and one of the ways we know that James Talarico has generated alot of interest nationwide is,look at this: The money raised,the Democratic candidates, $13 million for James Talarico. Jasmine Crockett, ofcourse, the other candidaterunning, just $7 million. He'sdoubling up on Crockett in termsof the money race. He's beenable to get his name recognitionto go way up in Texas. Ofcourse, Crockett, before thisrace, was a nationally knownname for taking on President Donald John Trump. So Talarico really raising a lot ofmoney. He has more cash on handat this point, and all that extraattention going into the finalfew weeks, he's just going tohave even more money. Thefundamentals, the moneyfundamentals really favoring Talarico at this point."
While national Democrats might prefer Talarico, there's some indication that Republicans would prefer to face Crockett in November, so the administration's move may have undercut those efforts.
"On Sunday, Talarico wasthe favorite, but it was prettyclose, 61 percent chance," Enten said. "But look atthat: It turns out thisattention was very good for Talarico. The prediction market, Kalshi prediction market, havinghis chance go all the way up tothree in four at this point, a75 percent chance of winning thatnomination."
"It was before the Colbertsituation," Enten added, "but this is going tobe very interesting because thepolling, at least one pollactually had Crockett ahead hereat 47 percent to Talarico's 39 percent. Nowwe'll see if that pollingchanges in the final few weeksof this campaign, but this couldbe an indication that theprediction markets are a leadingindicator in this race, becausethe polling is a little stale."