Liberal actor and comedian Alec Baldwin has quickly become well-known for playing President Donald Trump on NBC's Saturday Night Live program, but he recently stated in an interview with Extra's Mario Lopez that he's not sure how much longer he will continue to do his impression of the Republican occupant of the White House.
During the discussion, Baldwin said: “Trump just overwhelmingly lacks any kind of sportsmanship; he remains bitter and angry.” As a result, “I’m not going to do it very much longer, by the way, the impersonation, I don’t know how much more people can take it.”
The liberal comedian came down hard on Trump and said he hoped things would have changed once the president took office: “Trump just overwhelmingly lacks any kind of sportsmanship, he remains bitter and angry, and you just want to look at him and go: 'You won!'”
Baldwin also stated:
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, and the maliciousness of this White House has people very worried.
Which is why I’m not going to do it very much longer, by the way, the impersonation. I don’t know how much more people can take it.
Lopez then noted that many people have shown an interest in the actor reprising the role one more time, as the host of the White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 29 since Trump has said he will not attend the annual event.
“I don’t think it’s going to happen,” Baldwin responded. “I don’t think they want that. For their [prestige] and their integrity, I think a lot of people are thinking that if Trump himself doesn’t come and face the music as it were, … I don’t know what kind of program they're going to have.”
He continued: “If they wanted me to do it, I would probably do it, but I’m not quite sure they'll do it. I think they may have a whole other idea.”
The interview also focused on Boss Baby, “a movie in which he voices a suit-wearing, briefcase-carrying baby who pairs up with his 7-year-old brother to stop the dastardly plot of the CEO of Puppy Co.”
“I love doing animated films,” Baldwin added while joking about just welcoming a new baby at home. “I’m the sibling in my family that is squeezed out by the arrival of a child. I wish I had my wife to myself again.”
Lopez then noted that while Baldwin loves spending time with his kids and wife Hilaria, having a young family has impacted the way he looks at work. “It has limited what I do work-wise,” adding: "But I don’t care because I am happy to stay home and find things I can do at home.”
As NewsBusters previously reported, Baldwin hasn't been shy about sharing his liberal beliefs.
In January of 2014, Baldwin responded to MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry, who began her Saturday show with a tearful apology to GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney for mocking a picture of his family because it included his adopted black grandson.
That prompted Baldwin -- a former MSNBC host who was terminated the previous November for unleashing a homophobic rant towards a paparazzo -- to write on Twitter: "If I cry, will I be forgiven all of my transgressions?"
One month later, the actor stated: “I haven't changed, but public life has. … Now I loathe and despise the media in a way I did not think possible,” especially “Roger Ailes. And Fox. And Breitbart. And this is all about hate. It’s Hate Incorporated.”
Baldwin announced in late April an effort to regain his standing in the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Queer) community by serving as the executive producer of a new documentary of an openly gay activist entitled Compared to What: The Improbable Journey of Barney Frank.
Frank, whom Baldwin called "a personal hero of mine," returned the favor by stating that besides his outbursts, Baldwin “is very supportive of gay rights.”
During the summer, ABC introduced a slate of evening game shows, which led to Baldwin hosting a vulgar version of The Match Game in which lesbian comedian Rosie O'Donnell called Trump “an orange slug.”
In a later episode, O'Donnell again slammed the GOP candidate by calling him “a damaged orange” while fellow celebrity guest Isaac Mizrahi referred to him as “a snake with a comb-over.”
Baldwin made another career move in mid-January, when he began imitating Trump on Saturday Night Live.
So where will Baldwin's career take him next? Impersonating and slamming Senator and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer? Hosting an R-rated version of the old Concentration game show? The possibilities are endless.
