Stephen Colbert Responds To #FireColbert: “I Would Do It Again”

Late night host Stephen Colbert came under fire Wednesday for a slew of insults he aimed at Donald Trump during his show’s opening monologue.

STEPHEN COLBERT REACTS TO #FIRECOLBERT

Conservatives and Trump supporters took offense at the jokes, and began the hashtag movement #FireColbert. In particular, they addressed one specific joke in which Colbert said, “In fact, the only thing [Trump’s]  mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s c–k holster.”

Colbert took the opportunity to address these complaints during his show filmed last night. “So while I would do it again, I would change a few words that were cruder than they needed to be,” he said. “I had a few choice insults for the president in return. I don’t regret that. He, I believe, can take care of himself. I have jokes; he has the launch codes. So, it’s a fair fight.”

Trump has been the target for much of Colbert’s shows in the past year, and his audience drinks it in. Numbers-wise, Colbert was trailing far behind Jimmy Fallon‘s The Tonight Show in viewership, but he managed to catch up and overtake his competitor by late March of this year.

In full, this is what Colbert had to say about the incident:

“Welcome to The Late Show. I’m your host, Stephen Colbert. Still? I am still the host? I’m still the host! Now, if you saw my monologue Monday, you know that I was a little upset at Donald Trump for insulting a friend of mine. So at the end of that monologue I had a few choice insults for the president in return. I don’t regret that. He, I believe, can take care of himself. I have jokes; he has the launch codes. So, it’s a fair fight.

“So while I would do it again, I would change a few words that were cruder than they needed to be. I’m not going to repeat the phrase, but I just want to say for the record, life is short, and anyone who expresses their love for another person, in their own way, is to me, an American hero. I think we can all agree on that. I hope even the president and I can agree on that. Nothing else. But, that.”