Alec Baldwin says he won’t play Trump much longer
IT’S AN impersonation so biting that President Donald Trump himself has publicly, and repeatedly, criticised it — and one that has coincided with a ratings revival for “Saturday Night Live.” But Alec Baldwin says he won’t be donning that blond wig and giant red tie much longer.
Baldwin, who first debuted his Trump impersonation in October during the general election, signalled that his time as the commander in chief will be coming to an end soon.
“The maliciousness of this White House has people very worried, which is why I’m not going to do it much longer by the way, the impersonation,” Baldwin told “Extra” on Monday. “I don’t know how much more people can take it, you know.”
The last time Baldwin played Trump on “SNL” was on Feb 11, when he guest-hosted. And while Baldwin normally opens the show as Trump, he didn’t even appear as the president until midway through the episode.
As candidate, Trump tweeted that Baldwin’s impersonation “stinks” and demonstrated “media rigging” the election. Even after winning, he couldn’t stop complaining about it, telling Matt Lauer that he likes Baldwin but “I don’t think that his imitation of me gets me at all and it’s meant to be very mean-spirited, which is very biased, and I don’t like it.”
For his par t , Baldwin is also no fan of Trump’s performance as president, and has previously offered to stop his impersonation if Trump releases his tax returns.
“Trump just overwhelmingly lacks any sportsmanship. He remains bitter, and angry,” Baldwin said on “Extra.” “And you want to look at him and go, ‘You won!’ His policies aside, which you can hate, I thought he would have just relaxed and said, hey man, there’s a style the president has to have.”
If Baldwin does step down from his Trump duties, that may put NBC’s late-night comedy show in a bit of a bind. Taran Killam used to play Trump, but the show didn’t renew his contract for its 42nd season. And “SNL” veteran Darrell Hammond, who is now
the show’s announcer, revived his nearly 20-year- old impersonation of the Republican beginning in 2015.
More recent episodes have shown how the show is relying on pinch hitters such as Melissa McCarthy, and focusing on a broader cast of characters (such as Attorney General Jeff Sessions) to tackle the political headlines of the week.
There’s another high-profile potential gig for Baldwin’s Trump: the White House correspondents’ dinner. Last week, Baldwin told Jimmy Kimmel he wasn’t “not lobbying” to play Trump at the event, teasing that something like that could be in the works.
But on Monday, Baldwin tampered down speculation that he’d show up, telling “Extra” he would “probably do it” if the association asked, but he doesn’t “think it’s going to happen.”
“I don’t think they want that, for their prestige and their integrity,” Baldwin said. “A lot of people are thinking if Trump himself doesn’t come and face the music, as it were ... I don’t know what kind of programme they’re going to have.” — WP-Bloomberg
The maliciousness of this White House has people very worried, which is why I’m not going to do it much longer by the way, the impersonation. I don’t know how much more people can take it, you know. Alec Baldwin, actor