Comedian and late night television host Stephen Colbert responded Wednesday evening to backlash over a tirade of insults he levied at U.S. President Donald Trump a few nights before.

“I had a few choice insults for the President,” Colbert said. “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.”

During Monday’s broadcast of CBS The Late Show, Colbert hit back at Trump for slighting his friend and network colleague John Dickerson during an interview in the Oval Office.

One of Colbert’s subsequent put-downs, depicting a sexual act between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been called crude and homophobic.

Colbert said he “would change a few words that were cruder than they needed to be” but added: “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.”

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