Comedian Stephen Colbert congratulated President Trump for being the "biggest TV star" of the year Sunday, but said Trump may have never run for president had he been awarded an Emmy for "The Apprentice."

"The biggest TV star of the last year is Donald Trump. You may not like it, but he's the biggest star, and Alec Baldwin obviously. You guys are neck in neck, and Alec, you're up against a lot of neck," Colbert said during his opening monologue at the Emmys.

"However you feel about the president, and you do feel about the president, you can't deny that every show is influenced by Donald Trump in some way. All the late night shows, obviously, House of Cards, the new season of American Horror Story, and of course, next years' version of the Latin Grammy's, hosted by Sheriff Joe Arpaio."

Trump pardoned Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz., last month.

"And we all know the Emmys mean a lot to Donald Trump. He was nominated multiple times for ‘Celebrity Apprentice' but he never won. Why didn't you give him an Emmy?" Colbert asked the crowd. "I tell you this, if he had won an Emmy, I bet he never would've run for president. So in a way, this is all your faults. I thought you people loved morally compromised anti-heroes. You liked Walter White. He's just Walter much Whiter. And he never forgave you and he never will."

Colbert then pulled up a tweet from Trump criticizing Seth Meyers, who hosted the Emmys in 2014, and said the president has "complained repeatedly that the Emmys are rigged."

"And even during the campaign, Trump would not let it go," Colbert said, as a clip from the presidential debates with Hillary Clinton appeared.

Trump was nominated for "The Apprentice" in 2004 and 2005, but didn't win.

"Unlike the presidency, Emmys go to the winner of the popular vote," Colbert said.

Colbert, host of "The Late Show," is hosting this year's 69 th Primetime Emmy Awards.