Late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel said he would perform the same emotionally-charged monologues about healthcare and gun violence "again in a heartbeat," despite a drastic reduction in Republican viewership of his show.

"Three years ago, I was equally liked by Republicans and Democrats," Kimmel told CBS' "Sunday Morning" of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" which has aired on ABC since 2003. "And then Republican numbers went way down, like 30 percent, or whatever. And you know, as a talk show host, that's not ideal but I would do it again in a heartbeat."

Kimmel earned high praise and sharp rebukes for his foray into the healthcare debate in September, an issue that became particularly important to the comic after his six-month-old son Billy was born with a rare congenital heart defect.

He also garnered similar reactions when he choked up during a monologue imploring Congress to act on gun control in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre earlier in October.

Critics like conservative commentator Ben Shapiro have slammed Kimmel for parading as a "moral arbiter."

"I'm not. I mean, I agree with him. I'm nobody's moral arbiter," Kimmel told CBS. "You don't have to watch the show. You don't have to listen to what I say."

A defiant Kimmel added that he doesn't say "I don't mind" because he preferred "everyone with a television to watch the show."

"But if they're so turned off by my opinion on healthcare and gun violence then, I don't know, I probably wouldn't want to have a conversation with them anyway," he continued. "Not good riddance, but riddance."