Alec Baldwin defends 'SNL' Trump sketch amid president's coronavirus diagnosis

Baldwin was joined by Jim Carrey, who was portraying Joe Biden, for a parody of last Tuesday’s presidential debate. During the sketch, both men made lighthearted jabs at the news that Trump had tested positive for the coronavirus. Baldwin also shared a photo of himself in a face mask in full Trump costume prior to the airing to encourage people to watch.

The sketch rubbed some of Trump’s supporters the wrong way, to which Baldwin issued a response in a lengthy video shared on Instagram Sunday. The 62-year-old actor noted that, because people aren’t being told officially that Trump is “gravely ill,” the sketch simply toed the line at worst. He also praised the minds behind “SNL” for historically being cognizant of what is and isn’t appropriate.

“If there was ever the suggestion that Trump was truly, gravely ill, and people said, 'Trump is 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. "They would have done something else. I've seen that happen before."

He later added: “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 all been saying he isn’t in any danger. We only have their word to go by and if their word was that he was in serious trouble, then we probably wouldn't have done it."