The Comedy Central host says he's unafraid of any criticism he may receive for going to bat for his Democratic Party-aligned sister Elizabeth.

It takes a lot to get Stephen Colbert to break character; after all, this is a man who on national television roasted a sitting president while sitting close enough to be smacked, and raised more than $1 million as part of an extended, principled joke.

When it comes to family, though, the funnyman becomes serious.

STORY: Stephen Colbert's Sister Running for Congress in South Carolina

"I'm willing to, you know, break the jewel of my own creation to try to do something for her," the Comedy Central host told CNN's Jake Tapper about his sister, Elizabeth Colbert-Busch, who is running for Congress in South Carolina. "I'm not worried about what it would do to me or my show to try to help her as myself -- not as my character, to help her as myself. And you know, if people think that's not the right thing for me to do, I don't care. It's my sister, and I'm willing to help her."

Colbert-Busch -- who, unlike her satirist brother, pronounces the "t" in her last name -- is gunning for the vacated seat from South Carolina's 1st District. She has worked at the state's Clemson University for years, and her brother says she is more than qualified.

"I've met these people," he said, referring to congressmen and women, "and my sister is in the top decimal."