For the past two years, Alec Baldwin has transformed into president Donald Trump for late night audiences looking for some comedic relief amid the tragedy known as American politics. Whether or not you think Baldwin does a good job, his impression of Trump onSaturday Night Live is arguably the most prominent of its kind. The way Baldwin puckers his lips and squints his eyes to scold Kate McKinnon’s Jeff Sessions or praise Kellyanne Conway is now emblematic of SNL’s political parodies.
But Baldwin thinks one group of people in particular have had a strong reaction to his performance. In a new profile by The Hollywood Reporter, Baldwin reveals a curious hypothesis that his role as The Donald has increased his popularity among black people. The conversation follows an interaction Baldwin has with a black man named Tyrone, who praises Baldwin for his Trump impression on the street.
Here’s an excerpt from the piece:
As we load into the back seat of his SUV, Baldwin's still buzzing from his exchange with Tyrone. "I don't know how to say this and I don't want to get it wrong either, because everything is a minefield of bombs going off, but" — and here it comes — "ever since I played Trump, black people love me. They love me. Everywhere I go, black people go crazy. I think it's because they're most afraid of Trump. I'm not going to paint every African-American person with the same brush, but a significant number of them are sitting there going, 'This is going to be bad for black folks.'"
It’s...ironically Trumpian the way Baldwin brags about his popularity among black people. Trump never fails to bring up his black supporters (Kanye) and black employment levels. It’s unclear how Baldwin could even quantify his popularity among black people since, unlike with Trump, there are no polls to measure that.
This is also coming from the man who has repeatedly defended Woody Allen and griped about the #MeToo movement to excess. So, make of these comments what you will.
