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\nDavid Letterman was a guest on Wednesday’s, Dec. 10, episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!While there, he said he is “so glad to be out from under this mess” of late-night television, when asked if he missed hosting his showLetterman retired from late night in 2015 after 33 years on air<\/p>\n
David Letterman<\/a> does not wish he was back on the small screen.\n<\/p>\n Letterman, 78, appeared as a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! <\/a> Wednesday, Dec. 10. “Do you ever now when you’re at home in your palatial estate watching television think, ‘Oh man, I wish I was on tonight to talk about something that’s going on?’ ” Kimmel<\/a>, 58, asked the former late night host.\n<\/p>\n “Boy, you would think, but no. I’m so glad to be out from under this mess,” Letterman began. “Because people like you and people like Stephen [Colbert] and people like Seth [Meyers] do such a masterful job of defending this democracy,” he added, inspiring applause from the audience.\n<\/p>\n Letterman continued, “About all I’m capable of is showing up every now and then and saying f— Waymo and that’s it,” he said, referring to the self-driving car company.\n<\/p>\n “Thank God for you, thank God for others, SNL and everybody else. It’s just, I think it’s the way things need to be in a democracy that’s seemingly this crippled,” Letterman said.\n<\/p>\n Kimmel joked, “Well, I would prefer you limited it to me, but I appreciate those.”\n<\/p>\n David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel.<\/p>\n Disney\/Randy Holmes<\/p>\n He then added that Letterman “did forget John Stewart, The Daily Show.”\n<\/p>\n “I mean, there are many others that we can include here,” Kimmel said, paying homage to Stewart, 63.\n<\/p>\n Letterman stepped down from his job as the host of\u00a0The Late Show in May 2015, wrapping up his late night hosting career\u00a0after 33 years<\/a>. Letterman began hosting Late Night\u00a0in 1982, and his offbeat humor created an entirely new era of late night television.\n<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for\u00a0PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.\n<\/p>\n Letterman’s comments come days after Kimmel’s contract with ABC was extended<\/a>, despite President\u00a0Donald Trump<\/a>‘s continued calls for\u00a0Jimmy Kimmel Live!\u00a0to be taken off the air. Trump, 79, has previously said Kimmel has “no talent,” “very poor television ratings” and\u00a0even called him a “bum<\/a>” in a Truth Social\u00a0post<\/a>\u00a0last month.\n<\/p>\n