Former US President Donald Trump has spoken against actor Alec Baldwin, claiming that the tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the ‘Rust’ set might not necessarily have been an accident.
Trump’s bitter relation with Baldwin is well-known, largely based on the actor’s lampooning impersonation of him on ‘Saturday Night Live’. As per Deadline, Trump addressed the ‘Rust’ incident and Baldwin’s role in it on Thursday on conservative radio host Chris Stigall’s podcast.
“He’s a troubled guy. There’s something wrong with him. I’ve watched him for years. He gets into fistfights with reporters,” Trump said.
“He’s a cuckoo-bird. He’s a nutjob. And usually, when there’s somebody like that, you know, in my opinion, he had something to do with it,” he added.
Baldwin has maintained the shooting was a “tragic accident” and claimed that he was told the gun used in the shooting was not loaded.
Trump said that he thought Baldwin should not have pointed the gun at a crew member, loaded or not. “But if nothing else, how do you take a gun and just, whether it’s loaded or not loaded, how do you take a gun, point it at somebody that’s not even in the movie and just point it at this person and pull the trigger and now she’s dead?” Trump said.
He added that if he had been handed a gun, he would fire it into the air first.
“It’s weird. Who would take a gun and point it at a cinematographer and pull the trigger, and she’s dead?” he said.
He went on to question how the gun was loaded with live ammunition.
“As bad as it may have been kept, meaning you know the people that take care of the equipment and the guns and everything else… But even if it was loaded, and that’s a weird thing– maybe he loaded it,” he said.
Asked about Baldwin’s ‘SNL’ impersonations, Trump claimed they were “terrible”.
“There’s something wrong with him. He’s a sick guy. I mean, I’ve seen him for years because he did. I thought a poor job of imitating me,” he stated.
