Jordan Karlesson
Alec Baldwin, who famously impersonated former President Donald Trump, is firing back at Rob Schneider for telling Glenn Beck that he loathed Kate McKinnon’s impersonation of Hillary Clinton singing a Leonard Cohen song.
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Alec Baldwin on Wednesday posted a rambling, lethargic response to Rob Schneider bashing Saturday Night Live. It could be one of the lamest pop-culture beefs in recent memory,
“It must be an incredibly slow news cycle if we’re talking about Rob Schneider’s thoughts about Kate McKinnon playing Hillary Clinton so many years ago,” Baldwin said.
His point could have been well-taken had he ended the IG video right there. But, Alec Baldwin being Alec Baldwin, he riffed for many minutes on the exact subject he called trivial.
Alec Baldwin Vs. Rob Schneider
Baldwin claimed during his tiresome Instagram video that Schneider wrongly insinuated that Hollywood discriminates against actors who hold conservative viewpoints.
The “makin’ copies” guy didn’t use those exact words when he appeared Saturday on The Glenn Beck Podcast, but it was close enough. Schneider said SNL stopped being funny when McKinnon sang Cohen’s “Hallelujah” after Clinton lost the presidential election in November 2016.
Schneider said: “I hate to crap on my own show, but when Hillary Clinton lost … and then when Kate McKinnon went up there on Saturday Night Live in the cold opening, she started — dressed as Hillary Clinton — playing ‘Hallelujah,’ I literally prayed, ‘Please, have a joke at the end. Don’t do this. Please don’t go down there.’ And there was no joke at the end, and I went, ‘It’s over. It’s not going to come back.’”
Schneider, who is an anti-vaccination activist, then took his comments a step further. He said believes late-night TV hosts are “indoctrinating” their audiences and that there “isn’t an independent voice anymore. It’s all indoctrination by comedic imposition.” He previously criticized CNN on Twitter for “biased, fake, lies, distortions, fake sources, & a blackmailer.”
As if instructed to go blow for blow, Baldwin bashed cable news — but in his case, Fox, of course. In his response video, he called the network “trash,” said Fox News pundits are “idiots” and said “anything [Rupert] Murdoch touches is contemptible.”
Baldwin complimented Schneider numerous times on his comedic talents. He eventually summarized his thoughts by alleging that conservative comedians are disappointed that Trump isn’t still in the White House.
Say what you will about either actor; neither is especially popular right now. Regardless, their bloviating back and forth reflects the nasty political divide in America a bit too on the nose.
