Alec Baldwin criticized for comments about black people loving him since playing Trump

The actor has played Donald Trump on "SNL" for the last two years, and he sounds more like the president

Published October 10, 2018 3:49PM (EDT)

Alec Baldwin as President Donald Trump on "Saturday Night Live" (NBC/Will Heath)
Alec Baldwin as President Donald Trump on "Saturday Night Live" (NBC/Will Heath)

This article originally appeared on IndieWire.
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Alec Baldwin is making headlines for his Donald Trump impression, but this time the resemblance is all too striking. Critics on Twitter were quick to condemn recent comments the actor made about how black people have reacted to his “Saturday Night Live” characterization of the president. “I don’t know what this is but this ain’t it,” wrote R. Eric Thomas, Senior Staff Writer at Elle Magazine. “Is he still in character as Trump? White ‘liberal’ men who take these kinds of paternalistic, self-congratulatory stances are just as scary because they think they’re doing something benevolent.”

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Baldwin’s comments appeared in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, in which he expresses awareness that what he is about to say could draw backlash:

Earlier in the interview, Baldwin shared his fears about #MeToo: “I just remember thinking in that moment, ‘Wow, they’re looking for people. This is a fire that needs fresh wood, and they’re coming for me.'”

Baldwin has defended Woody Allen, and joked that #MeToo made him afraid to touch his wife on an episode of Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in cars Getting Coffee.” His comments about sexual harassment would have been enough to raise eyebrows, but boasting about black people loving him overshadowed any hemming and hawing about #MeToo.

Read more IndieWire: Alec Baldwin Invites Melania Trump to ‘SNL’: ‘Come Over to the Light’

See more Twitter reactions below, beginning with Vulture’s Hunter Harris:

BuzzFeed News reporter Tasneem M:

Sarah Sahim, freelance:

Philip Lewis, HuffPost:

Phillip Henry, Them:

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By Jude Dry

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