Pro-Trump Stephen Baldwin has not spoken to brother Alec Baldwin after his SNL portrayal of US President
'Early on during the campaign, I thought that SNL was getting a little too nasty. Now to be honest with you, I haven’t even spoken to my own brother since the election,' says Baldwin
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Your support makes all the difference.Alec Baldwin might have made a name for himself for ruthlessly mocking Donald Trump but it turns out his brother is quite the fan.
Stephen Baldwin, who rose to fame for his role in The Usual Suspects, has rebuked Alec’s “nasty” Saturday Night Live sketches impersonating Mr Trump.
The conservative actor, who was one of the first people in Hollywood to come out as a Trump supporter, revealed he has not spoken to his brother Alec since Mr Trump was elected president, saying it had been a “tough election”.
Baldwin was not shy about the fact his brother's Saturday Night Live sketches have been a point of tension between him and his brother who has, of course, garnered attention and acclaim from all corners of the globe for his portrayal of Mr Trump on the wildly popular late-night TV series both before and after the inauguration.
"Early on during the campaign, I thought that SNL was getting a little too nasty," he said in appearance on Fox and Friends on Sunday, before turning to the camera to bestow his brother with a message. "Now to be honest with you, I haven’t even spoken to my own brother since the election - So happy birthday, Alec! Love you!"
His older brother turned 59 on April 3. "Has the election really gotten in the way of your family?" a Fox host asked the actor.
Baldwin, who appeared on Celebrity Big Brother 7 in the UK, retorted: "Well, yeah, this has been a tough election, you know?"
"The Democratic side wanted what they wanted, and they lost. So now what I’m excited about it, how quickly that community is going to come on board to support Donald Trump so he can make America great again."
Baldwin, who is a Christian evangelist, said he thought Mr Trump was "already doing a great job and doing things to make the economy better quickly."
Baldwin, who knows Mr Trump from appearing on the Celebrity Apprentice together, argued Hollywood’s almost universal criticism of the president reveals actors distance from wider America.
“For me, it shows how much Hollywood is disconnected from the blue-collar, mainstream America," he said.
"And now for me, again SNL efforts are to try to drive up the young people, get them to receive the message, where they’re coming from - it’s already kind of an issue that’s already passed, in my opinion. Now we have to really more than anything focus on trying to support this president."
Baldwin came out as a Trump supporter back in July 2015, with his brother later spoofing the endorsement on SNL. “I’ve got the cream of the crop,” he said while playing Donald Trump. “I’ve got Sarah Palin. I’ve got Chachi. And get this, I’ve got the best Baldwin brother - Stephen Baldwin.”
The two Baldwin brothers are not the only family who have been divided over the billionaire president. In February, a Reuters/Ipsos poll of 6,426 people, taken from Dec 27 to Jan 18, shows the number of respondents who argued with family and friends over politics increased 6 percentage points from a pre-election poll at the height of the campaign in October, up to 39 percent from 33 percent.
16 per cent said they have stopped talking to a family member or friend because of the election – a figure up marginally from 15 per cent.
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