Stephen Colbert: Donald Trump 'is my old character -- with $10 billion'

CBS late night host Stephen Colbert pointed out over the weekend that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was the embodiment of the character he created on Comedy Central's Colbert Report to mock conservatives.

"For so many years, I pretended to be an advocate for a side, and as such I always had to take sides," Colbert told CBS host John Dickerson during an interview that aired on Sunday. "This person is good, that person is bad, and there's nothing in between."

"I think that area in between is where most people live, and we're asked to go in one direction or the other," he continued. "Mostly so one side or the other can raise money or one side or the other doesn't necessarily have to explain themselves and it can be purely on the emotional appeal."

The late night host noted that did not agree with Trump on many issues, but he respected the candidate's ability to know his audience.

"What I do respect is that he knows that it is an emotional appeal, and it might be emotional appeals that I can't respect, but he knows that you have to appeal to the voter," Colbert explained. "And that's why I may be wrong. I made a big deal about there's no way he's going to win."

According to Colbert, Trump "is my old character with $10 billion."

"He's completely playing on an emotional level, and so beautifully," he observed. "That's one of the reasons I can't do that old character anymore because he's doing it better than I ever could because he's willing to drink his own Kool-Aid. And manufacture and distribute it because he's got all the cash."

Watch the video below from CBS' Face the Nation, broadcast Dec. 27, 2015.