Jeffrey R. Staab/CBS(NEW YORK) — Stephen Colbert used the top of his monologue on The Late Show Wednesday night to address online accusations of homophobia that grew out of his monologue Monday.
On Monday, Colbert launched into rapid fire string of insults at Donald Trump, defending CBS newsman and Face the Nation host John Dickerson, after President Trump referred, during an interview with Dickerson, to the show as “Deface the Nation.” The insults included an off-color joke about Trump and Vladimir Putin that some took to Twitter to decry as homophobic, including the hashtag #FireColbert.
On Wednesday, Colbert was more or less unapologetic.
Opening the show joking, “I’m your host, Stephen Colbert. Still? Am I still the host?” Colbert went on to explain, “You know that I was a little upset with 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.”
“I believe he can take care of himself,” Colbert said of the president. “I have jokes; he has the launch codes.”
But Colbert did apologize for possibly offending people other than Trump. “While I would do it again, I would change a few words that were cruder than they needed to be,” he said, adding, “Anyone who expresses their love for another person in their own way is an American hero.”
Among the insults Colbert flung at Trump on Monday were, “Sir, you attract more skinheads than free Rogaine. You have more people marching against you than cancer. You talk like a sign language gorilla that got hit in the head. In fact, the only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s c*** holster.”
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