Stephen Colbert as Stephen Colbert, the political pundit on 'The Colbert Report' Scott Gries/PictureGroup Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment Stephen Colbert pulled out all the stops in defending his late-night competitor and friend Jimmy Kimmel on Thursday. That included pulling out his old Comedy Central character: Stephen Colbert the political pundit and host of The Colbert Report. Cue the bald eagle screech. "Hello, nation," Colbert said in-character. "Daddy's home." The faux Colbert jumped right back into his signature segment, "The Word," which puts the conservative words coming out of his Republican mouth at odds with contradictory text in a side-chyron. To get us out of this "free-speech crisis," Colbert suggests we all just...don't say anything. And certainly not aloud. Related Stories TV Jimmy Fallon Says He Hopes Kimmel Returns, Mocks Trump on 'The Tonight Show' TV Jon Stewart Nervously Tackles Jimmy Kimmel Suspension in 'Daily Show' Return "You can have your rights just as long as you don't use them," he said about the First Amendment. Watch the segment below. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended after mocking MAGA Republicans for scrambling to distance their own ideologies from those of Charlie Kirk's alleged murderer, Tyler Robinson. Both sides of the aisle have been playing a game of hot potato with Robinson's perceived political affiliations. "We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it," Kimmel said. The joke cost Kimmel at least a few nights of ABC's airtime - discussions about whether and when Jimmy Kimmel Live! would and could return are still ongoing at the highest levels within The Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC. Read the inside story on how Kimmel's Disney suspension was handed down here. Colbert still has a talk show - until next May at least. His guests on Thursday's show were CNN's Jake Tapper and The New Yorker editor David Remnick. Both heavily criticized Trump for meddling and Disney for, as Tapper put it, "acquiescing" to power. More to come. THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day Subscribe Sign Up Jimmy Kimmel Jimmy Fallon Says He Hopes Kimmel Returns, Mocks Trump on 'The Tonight Show' Live Feed Jon Stewart Nervously Tackles Jimmy Kimmel Suspension in 'Daily Show' Return Jimmy Kimmel Trump Says Broadcast Networks Should Lose Their FCC Licenses for Treating Him Unfairly Jimmy Kimmel How Jimmy Kimmel Might Have Just Been Sacrificed for a Multibillion-Dollar TV Deal Seth Meyers Seth Meyers Stresses Value of Free Speech Amid Jimmy Kimmel Suspension: "We're Gonna Keep Doing Our Show the Way We've Always Done It" Live Feed 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' Stars Sean Kaufman, Rain Spencer Talk "Staylor" Love Story and Filming 'The Bear'-Like Kitchen Scene Jimmy Kimmel Jimmy Fallon Says He Hopes Kimmel Returns, Mocks Trump on 'The Tonight Show' Live Feed Jon Stewart Nervously Tackles Jimmy Kimmel Suspension in 'Daily Show' Return Jimmy Kimmel Trump Says Broadcast Networks Should Lose Their FCC Licenses for Treating Him Unfairly Jimmy Kimmel How Jimmy Kimmel Might Have Just Been Sacrificed for a Multibillion-Dollar TV Deal Seth Meyers Seth Meyers Stresses Value of Free Speech Amid Jimmy Kimmel Suspension: "We're Gonna Keep Doing Our Show the Way We've Always Done It" Live Feed 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' Stars Sean Kaufman, Rain Spencer Talk "Staylor" Love Story and Filming 'The Bear'-Like Kitchen Scene