The agony: Baldwin, Trump spar on Twitter
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump and Alec Baldwin — his chief impersonator — traded online barbs Friday, each describing the other as causing “agony,” the latest salvos in an ongoing feud between the commander in chief and the actor.
Trump, who has long grumbled about the way he is portrayed by Baldwin on “Saturday Night Live,” began the latest spat in a tweet sandwiched between his observations about world trade and the opioid crisis. (In an initial tweet that was later deleted, he misspelled the actor’s first name as “Alex,” prompting “Alex Baldwin” to trend on Twitter.)
The president seemed to be reacting to an interview Baldwin gave to The Hollywood Reporter that was published Thursday in which the actor said he doesn’t enjoy parodying Trump: “Every time I do it now, it’s like agony. Agony.”
Wrote Trump on Friday: “Alec Baldwin, whose dying mediocre career was saved by his terrible impersonation of me on SNL, now says playing me was agony. Alec, it was agony for those who were forced to watch.”
The president also said Baldwin’s performance wasn’t as good as comedian Darrell Hammond, who portrayed Trump on “SNL” for years before Baldwin took over in September 2016. “Bring back Darrell Hammond, funnier and a far greater talent!” Trump tweeted.
Baldwin responded in a series of tweets.
“Agony though it may be, I’d like to hang in there for the impeachment hearings, the resignation speech, the farewell helicopter ride,” he wrote.
Baldwin also tweeted that he was “Looking forward to the Trump Presidential Library” and suggested it would contain a live Twitter feed and “a little black book w the phone numbers of porn stars.”
Baldwin, a Democratic activist, received an Emmy Award last year for his parody on “SNL.”