A handout image of Jon Stewart hosting the Sept. 18 episode of "The Daily Show." Stewart hosted the episode following the sidelining of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Spet. 17 over comments Kimmel made in the wake of the death of Charlie Kirk and apparent threats from FCC chairman Brendan Carr.

Jon Stewart pulled double duty on the news desk this week on "The Daily Show" after his fellow late-night talk show host, Jimmy Kimmel, was pulled off-air indefinitely.

Earlier on Thursday, Sept. 18, "The Daily Show" announced on social media that Stewart would step in as host. He typically hosts the Monday edition of Comedy Central's satirical news program.

The comedian opened up the show with an "administration compliant" segment and a set decked out in gold and sarcastically praised President Donald Trump, calling him "perfectly tinted," and pretending to shush the audience when they booed at Trump.

He recounted the president's three-day state visit to the United Kingdom while repeatedly and sarcastically complimenting the administration with a terrified look on his face, and pointing out blunders in the President's speech at the state dinner. Stewart went on to discuss the recent concerns that the Kimmel suspension violated American's right to freedom of speech by jokingly defending Trump.

"Our great administration has laid out very clear rules on free speech. Now some naysayers may argue that this administration's speech concerns are merely a cynical ploy. A thin gruel of a ruse. A smoke screen to obscure an unprecedented consolidation of power and unitarian intimidation and coldly antithetical to any experiment in a constitutional republic governance," he said. "Some people would say that. Not me though. I think it's great."

With a high pitch tone he later sang a celebratory anthem praising the president along with his staff who wore suits and red ties like those Trump often wears.

Kimmel's ABC late-night show was "pre-empted indefinitely" on Wednesday, Sept. 17, following comments he made on a Sept. 15 episode regarding the fatal shooting of the conservative commentator Charlie Kirk and apparent threats against ABC parent company Disney and network affiliates made by the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr.

Carr claimed in a Sept. 18 appearance on CNBC that Kimmel's suspension was the result of a "massive shift in dynamics in the media ecosystem," adding, "we're not done yet with seeing the consequences of that shift."

Stephen Colbert, David Letterman show support for Jimmy Kimmel

The indefinite suspension of Kimmel's show sparked widespread outrage among his high-profile friends and supporters, while some of the comedian's critics, including President Trump, are celebrating ABC's shock move.

Retired TV host David Letterman stood in solidarity with his fellow comedian on Thursday, Sept. 18. The former "Late Show" host called Kimmel "my good friend" at The Atlantic Festival on Sept. 18 and warned that "in the world of somebody who is an authoritarian, maybe a dictatorship, sooner or later, everyone is going to be touched."

"This is a misery," Letterman said. "I feel bad about this because we all see where this is going, correct? It's managed media. It's no good. It's silly. It's ridiculous. And you can't go around firing somebody because you're fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian, criminal administration in the Oval Office. That's just not how this works."

On the Sept. 18 episode of "The Late Show," Stephen Colbert came to his fellow late-night host's defense after ABC's controversial suspension of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

"You know what my community values are, buster? Freedom of speech," Colbert said on his show, addressing comments made by Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, about Kimmel.

The Emmy-winning comedian was directly responding to Carr, who on X wrote that "while this may be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values." Colbert, however, responded to that by saying that "people across the country are shocked by this blatant assault on the freedom of speech."

Contributing: Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jon Stewart addresses Jimmy Kimmel suspension, calls President Trump 'perfectly tinted'

Reporting by James Powel, Anthony Robledo, Pamela Avila and Brendan Morrow, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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