From 2016 to 2020, Alec Baldwin portrayed President Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live. He reportedly had an unexpected fan: Melania Trump. During a 92nd Street Y event, Alec, 66, claimed that Melania seemed to love his impersonation of her husband because it was so accurate.
The actor said that former Trump press secretary Sean Spicer was the one who shared this fun fact at the Emmys. “Spicer — maybe he had a couple drinks, I don’t know; I wasn’t there,” Alec explained, per OK! Magazine. “He says to the people at SNL, ‘Melania watches the show every Saturday night.'”
Alec claims that Melania has said his Donald Trump impersonation was spot-on. At least, this is what Sean Spicer reportedly described. “She points at the TV and says “That’s what he’s like! That is what he’s like! Exactly! Alec Baldwin is exactly like Donald!” the former press secretary once said, according to Alec.
If the claims are true, Melania and her husband seem to have different opinions when it comes to how the president was portrayed on SNL. In the past, Donald Trump took to social media to complain about Alec’s impersonation of him.
At one point, he described the show as “boring and unfunny.” On another occasion, he directed his criticism at Alec specifically. “Just tried watching Saturday Night Live — unwatchable!” he wrote, per Page Six. “Totally biased, not funny and the Baldwin impersonation just can’t get any worse. Sad.”
In another post, Trump mentioned “retribution” and said the way he was portrayed was “very unfair and should be looked into.”
Later, Alec took to social media to share that he was concerned for his safety. “I wonder if a sitting President exhorting his followers that my role in a TV comedy qualifies me as an enemy of the people constitutes a threat to my safety and that of my family?” he wrote at the time, per The Guardian.
While it’s unclear whether Melania truly loved Alec’s impersonation, many people who watched SNL thought it was quite accurate.
In 2017, Alec explained a strategy he used to make the act more convincing. “We always default to [using adjectives like] ‘fantastic,’ ‘amazing,’ ‘terrific,'” Alec explained at the time. “He never comes up with anything stronger or clearer … He’s not a great thinker. He demonstrates that over and over again. It’s kind of harrowing, actually.”
