Stephen Colbert addresses 'FireColbert' backlash following his anti-Trump monologue

Stephen Colbert has finally come up with a response to the online criticism he faced for his off-colour joke about President Trump in his 'Late Show' on Monday.

"Welcome to The Late Show. I'm your host, Stephen Colbert. Still? I am still the host? I'm still the host!!" the 52-year-old comedian said, during Wednesday's opening monologue, according to a transcript of the CBS broadcast, reports PEOPLE.

"Now, if you saw my monologue Monday, you know that I was a little upset at Donald Trump for insulting a friend of mine," Colbert said, in reference to his skewering skewering Trump with a serious of brutal insults in response to the president mocking CBS' John Dickerson during his Face the Nation interview over the weekend.

Continuing, "So at the end of that monologue, I had a few choice insults for the president in return. 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."

"While I would do it again, I would change a few words that were cruder than they needed to be. I'm not going to repeat the phrase, but 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," he concluded.

Some even deemed Colbert's remarks about Trump and Vladimir Putin "homophobic."

"Sir, you attract more skinheads than free Rogaine," the CBS emcee said amid a string of insults on Monday. "You have more people marching against you than cancer. You talk like a sign language gorilla who got hit in the head. In fact, the only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin's c-k holster."

With the hashtag #FireColbert, the Twitter users launched a campaign against the 'Late Show' host, but the last remark sparked an enraged wave over the social media.

-ANI