(The HIll) — Howard Stern is embracing being called “woke,” saying he wants “to be awake.” In response to a YouTube personality applying the term to him, the SiriusXM host on Monday told listeners of his eponymous show, “I kind of take that as a compliment, that I’m ‘woke.’”

In this April 14, 2018, file photo, Howard Stern speaks at the 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies in Cleveland. (AP/Michael Zorn/Invision)

“To me, the opposite of woke is being asleep,” Stern, 69, said. “If woke means I can’t get behind [former President Trump], which is what I think it means, or that I support people who want to be transgender, or I’m for the vaccine—dude, call me woke as you f—ing want.”

“I’m not for stupidity,” he continued, saying he recently received the latest updated COVID-19 vaccine. “F—in’ science. This f—ing country is so great,” Stern said. “I am woke, motherf—er. And I love it.”

“These guys who I see on the internet who say they’re not woke, but they seem to be really angry, super against gay people—especially transgender,” Stern said. “Am I for kids being able to read about anything in school? Yeah, I am. I don’t give a s— what kids read,” he said of book bans in Republican-led states.

“I want to read legitimate news sources. Here’s how woke I am: I believe the election was not rigged,” he said of Trump’s unfounded claims of mass electoral fraud in the 2020 presidential race. “I’m woke. I think that’s a compliment,” added Stern, who frequently hosted Trump as a guest on his radio show before the New York real estate developer entered politics.

In the past, the veteran broadcaster referred to Trump as a friend. Still, Stern grew more critical of the 45th commander-in-chief during his presidency, slamming him for his administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. “Give me vaccines, man. I’m all for it,” the “Howard Stern Comes Again” author said. “I like being woke, if that’s what woke means.”

“I guess somewhere the rap is I used to be good, but now I’m woke,” Stern told his listeners. He concluded, “I think I always was awake.”

A USA Today-Ipsos poll released in March found that the majority of Americans—56%—had a positive association with the term “woke,” understanding it to mean to “be informed, educated on, and aware of social injustices.”

Stern reached a five-year agreement with SiriusXM to continue making his show for the satellite radio company through the end of 2025. The deal was announced Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, though the terms were not disclosed. Forbes magazine has reported that Stern was already making $90 million a year.