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Baldwin said the producers and the NBC network
"don't want to sink the ship. So if there was ever the
suggestion that Trump was truly, gravely ill ... really in
trouble, then I would bet you everything I have that we wouldn't
even get near that in terms of the content of the show," Baldwin
said in an Instagram video on Sunday night in response to
criticism on social media.
"Saturday Night Live" was broadcast from New York the day after
Trump was admitted to the hospital with coronavirus symptoms.
The severity of his illness is unclear after conflicting reports
from doctors and the White House.
The TV show opened with a sketch making fun of the raucous
presidential debate between Trump and Democratic contender Joe
Biden, played by Jim Carrey, that took place before Trump tested
positive for the disease.
"Did you take the COVID test you promised to take in advance?"
asked the actor playing the debate moderator.
"Absolutely, scouts honor," said Baldwin's Trump with his
fingers crossed. "The China virus is a hoax – and that will
probably come back to haunt me later this week."
Baldwin, who won an Emmy for playing Trump, dismissed "the
perception that we're mocking him while he's sick.""We only have
the words of the White House itself and the people who work
there themselves to go on, and all of them have been saying that
he is not in any danger," Baldwin said in his posting.
Later in Saturday's show, comedian Chris Rock quipped,
"President Trump is in the hospital due to COVID, and my heart
goes out to COVID."
NBC did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday
on Baldwin's remarks or the content of the "Saturday Night Live"
broadcast.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
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