Colbert walks back "crude" Trump-Putin joke

While the late-night host said he did not “regret” his scorching Monday night monologue ripping the president’s handling of an interview with CBS host John Dickerson, Colbert acknowledged that one particular remark, deemed homophobic by some, went too far.

“While I would do it again, I would change a few words that were cruder than they needed to be,” Colbert said during Wednesday’s taping of “The Late Show,” according to a transcript obtained by POLITICO.

He 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.”