President Trump was worried about a number of things during his daily early morning Twiter spree on Friday, like trade wars and the economic health of the steel industry. But he was particularly flustered about Alec Baldwin.
First thing in the morning, Trump criticized a comment the Saturday Night Live actor made to the Hollywood Reporter on Thursday.
The publication asked him how much longer he planned to continue playing Donald Trump on SNL.
“Every time I do it now, it’s like agony. Agony. I can’t,” he said. “If things don’t go in the right direction for the midterms. … I could go out on the street, stand on any corner and tap 10 people on the shoulder. And all 10 of them, in all likelihood, would be more qualified—ethically, morally, intellectually and spiritually—than Trump.”
The comment obviously didn’t bode well with Trump. In a first attempt at tweeting about Baldwin, he mistakenly called him “Alex” and misspelled the word “dying.”
https://twitter.com/Hugizu/status/969566190707380226
He deleted that tweet and issued a new one with the correct name spelling.
“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. Bring back Darrell Hammond, funnier and a far greater talent!”
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. Bring back Darrell Hammond, funnier and a far greater talent!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 2, 2018
While Hammond hasn’t yet commented about the tweet, Baldwin did.
“Agony though it may be, I’d like to hang in there for the impeachment hearings, the resignation speech, the farewell helicopter ride to Mara-A-Lago. You know. The Good Stuff. That we’ve all been waiting for.”
Agony though it may be, I’d like to hang in there for the impeachment hearings, the resignation speech, the farewell helicopter ride to Mara-A-Lago. You know. The Good Stuff. That we’ve all been waiting for.
— AlecBaldwin(HABF) (@AlecBaldwin) March 2, 2018
Baldwin has been doing his Emmy award-winning impersonation since October 2016, right before Trump was first elected as president. While Trump might think watching Baldwin’s impersonation is agony, viewers don’t seem to agree—SNL’s viewership went up so much in 2017 that it had its best ratings in 22 years.