Alec Baldwin took to Twitter on Friday, June 2, to defend Kathy Griffin after she shared a photo of herself holding a bloodied, decapitated head resembling President Donald Trump.
“Dear Kathy Griffin, Kathy…baby…I’ve been there,” the 59-year-old actor, who has portrayed Trump on Saturday Night Live since last September, wrote before comparing the situation to the time he joked about stoning then-Representative Henry Hyde to death on Late Night with Conan O’Brien in 1998.
“The whole Henry Hyde thing w Conan, where we bring out an oxygen mask at the end? a joke. That’s what I thought. That’s what we intended,” Baldwin continued. “No one walked out of the studio and said, ‘No! We’re serious!’ No one. but all your gutless, weasels in the GOP insisted that I actually threatened Hyde. They played the victim beautifully.”
The Match Game host then told Griffin, 56, to ignore the haters — and the president himself. “Kathy…f–k them,” he tweeted. “F–k them all. No 1 believes u meant 2 threaten Trump. Trump is such a senile idiot, all he has is Twitter fights. Ignore him. Like the leaders of all the other countries in the world. Ignore him.”
1- Dear Kathy Griffin,
Kathy….baby…I’ve been there.
The whole Henry Hyde thing w Conan, where we bring out an oxygen mask at the end?— AlecBaldwin (@AlecBaldwin) June 3, 2017
2- a joke. That’s what I thought. That’s what we intended. No one walked out of the studio and said, “No! We’re serious!”
No one.— AlecBaldwin (@AlecBaldwin) June 3, 2017
3- but all your gutless, weasels in the GOP insisted that I actually threatened Hyde. They played the victim beautifully.
— AlecBaldwin (@AlecBaldwin) June 3, 2017
4- Kathy…fuck them. Fuck them all. No 1 believes u meant 2 threaten Trump. Trump is such a senile idiot, all he has is Twitter fights.
— AlecBaldwin (@AlecBaldwin) June 3, 2017
5- ignore him. Like the leaders of all the other countries in the world. Ignore him.
— AlecBaldwin (@AlecBaldwin) June 3, 2017
Baldwin later tweeted some more thoughts about the controversy, writing, “Do you honestly believe that a stand up comedienne who has alternately entertained and offended audiences for decades, woke up one day and decided to kill the President or anyone for that matter? This demonizing of Kathy Griffin is another ridiculous distraction.”
“If some performer dressed as Trump had Hillary or Obama’s severed head in their act, Hannity would ask them to cohost,” he added. “No one wishes Trump any physical harm. We want him healthy and fully alert. For his impeachment.”
In a tweet posted earlier this week, Trump, 70, said Griffin “should be ashamed of herself” for her controversial photo shoot, and claimed that his children, including his 11-year-old son, Barron, were “having a hard time with this.” During a tearful press conference on Friday afternoon, the stand-up comedian alleged that Trump and his family were “bullying” her and “trying to ruin” her life.