--- title: Alec Baldwin: Saturday Night Live Donald Trump interview description: Alec Baldwin finally opens up about the creative process on Donald Trump for SNL. canonical: https://time.com/4563022/alec-baldwin-donald-trump-snl-impression/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-08T21:54:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T06:53:33.903Z og:title: Alec Baldwin Reveals What Goes Into His Donald Trump Impression og:description: It's so much more than the hair og:url: https://time.com/4563022/alec-baldwin-donald-trump-snl-impression/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf322ff94dbcec15f/6988ad7ffb4eac6d4488fcbd/gettyimages-621448274.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Saturday Night Live - Season 42 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Alec Baldwin Reveals What Goes Into His Donald Trump Impression twitter:description: It's so much more than the hair twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf322ff94dbcec15f/6988ad7ffb4eac6d4488fcbd/gettyimages-621448274.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Alec Baldwin on Impersonating Donald Trump: 'He Is the Head Writer of His Own Comedy Routine' > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ca198434-56b9-4b4d-9ecf-e31ce8306a11&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: See How SNL's Third Presidential Debate Parody Compares to the Real Thing [Watch (HLS stream): See How SNL's Third Presidential Debate Parody Compares to the Real Thing](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fAfztZ65.m3u8) (3:22)  _Published 2016-10-24. Saturday Night Live's parody of the third and final presidential debate once again let Alec Baldwin play a caricature of a juvenile, faltering Donald Trump and Kate McKinnon play a gratingly boastful Hillary Clinton on cruise control._ by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Nov 8, 2016 9:54 PM UTC by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Nov 8, 2016 9:54 PM UTC Alec Baldwin opened up about the process behind his _Saturday Night Live_ [Donald Trump impression](https://t.co/d4qFTPWr0P), the show’s most fleshed out portrayal yet. The _30 Rock_ star appeared on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show Tuesday to explain his feelings toward the [Republican nominee](http://time.com/4527860/trump-machine-fortune-teller/), who has been a ripe target for comedians. “I don’t hate Trump, but he’s not somebody I admire, so it was more difficult,” he said. He then went on to explain that he mostly relied on the show’s writers, and crafted the “caricature” from observing Trump at his public appearances. (After all, the show presented a goofball struggling in the spotlight rather than true satire.) He also revealed that at first, he turned down the chance to take up the mantle when Lorne Michaels approached him on the advice of Baldwin’s former co-star, [Tina Fey](http://time.com/4515769/lorne-michaels-alec-baldwin-donald-trump-tina-fey/). “I said, well I don’t want to do that, I don’t think I can do that,” Baldwin said. “I mean, he had Taran Killam and Darrell Hammond, he had a couple of people who were in his compound there, who could do it I thought better than me. And I thought, I don’t want to do it, I don’t think I can. But you get lucky and I also think that people were ready to take in that version of him, which is so aggressive.” The nominee himself took to Twitter to [slam Baldwin’s impression](http://time.com/4533134/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-debate-saturday-night-live/), and Baldwin’s brother, [Stephen](http://time.com/4538669/stephen-baldwin-alec-baldwin-on-donald-trump-impression/), a Trump supporter also said that it was “a little too nasty” during a high-stakes election. For a show that stretched Hillary Clinton to maniacal extremes as it often has over the years, tellingly, the Trump sound bytes the show selected from the presidential debates tracked closely with the real versions. Case in point, Baldwin noted: “of course, he is the head writer of his own comedy routine, everything he just supplied to us.” Watch a comparison of Trump _SNL_ imagined to Trump for real above and listen to the full interview below. \[[_WNYC_](http://www.wnyc.org/story/alec-baldwin-sheds-trump-impressions-election-day/)\] ## Transcript [ APPLAUSE ] Hi. How are you? And live from New York it's Saturday night. And live from New York it's Saturday night. First of all, it's great to be with you and thank you everybody. Chris, I'm going to start this debate in the quietest vote possible. In the past, I have been big and loud. But tonight, I am a sweet, little, baby Trump. I do not think the United States government should be stepping in and making those most personal of decisions. What two better people are there to talk about women's issues? Me, a woman who has had a child and has taken birth control and him, a man who is a child and whose face is birth control. [ LAUGH ] We have to have strong borders. But she wants open borders and that is crazy. But we have some bad hombres here and we're gonna get them out. And a lot of them are very bad hombres. [ LAUGH ] Bingo! I got bingo. [ LAUGH ] In the last week 11 women accuse you of sexually assaulting them. Do you still deny each of those claims. I didn't know any of these women. I didn't see these women. I'm completely innocent. Nobody has more respect for women than I do, nobody. [ LAUGH ] [ LAUGH ] She has been doing this for 30 years. Why the hell didn't you do it over the last 15 or 20 years. What has she been doing for the last 30 years. No Donald, don't set her up like this. I'd be happy to talk about the last 30 years. the last 30 years. [ LAUGH ] Let me just talk briefly about that. Back in the 1970s, I worked for the Children's Defense Fund. Give me a break. And on the day when I was in the Situation Room monitoring the raid that brought Osama Bin Laden to justice, He was hosting the Celebrity Apprentice. Back in the 1970s, I worked for the Children's Defense Fund. Yes, yes, yes. We know- Then I was a Senator in New York on 9 / 11. Yeah, we get it, we get it. And then I'm the Secretary of State and I don't know if you've heard this before- We have. But I was instrumental in taking down a man by the name of- Osama Bin Laden. Osama [ LAUGH ] [ INAUDIBLE ] Bin Laden, yes. [ INAUDIBLE ] [ LAUGH ] [ APPLAUSE ] But what we wanna do is to replenish the social security- Such a nasty woman. Trust fund- Such a nasty woman. [ LAUGH ] Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump, that was incredibly rude. Do you You make the same commitment that you will absolutely, sir, that you will absolutely accept the result of this election. I'm not looking at any thing now. I'll look at it at the time. I will look at it at the time because frankly this whole thing is rigged. First of all, the media is so dishonest. All off the newscasters are making me look so bad. And how are we doing that? By taking all of the things I say and all of things I do, and putting them on tv. And I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election, if I win. I, Donald Trump- I, the best ever, Donald Trump- Promise to accept- Promise to accept- The results of this election. The results of this election, if I win. 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