CLAY: One of the big topics that’s been discussed of late certainly has been the Alec Baldwin shooting and what exactly went on on that movie set. And last night there was a sit-down discussion that Alec Baldwin had with George Stephanopoulos. I actually went on with Sean Hannity and we discussed it. I want to play a clip for you of Alec Baldwin discussing President Trump weighing in on this situation.
But I want to put this into a larger context for you. Alec Baldwin effectively said the gun fired without him pulling the trigger. Now, I’m not a firearms expert, but that seems highly unlikely. Alec Baldwin also said, “Someone is responsible … but I know it’s not me.” The gun was in his hand when it went off and a woman died. There is certainly going to be a large number of civil lawsuits.
What is going to have to be determined is whether or not the negligence at play here, according to the D.A., rose to the level of being a crime or whether it was merely negligence in a civil context. That’s going to be a big decision, and it may ultimately come down to a jury having to determine what was or was not appropriate. But Alec Baldwin…
If you watch that interview, it was a clear attempt to put someone else on the chopping block, proverbially, to pass the buck to someone else and avoid all blame himself. And Alec Baldwin is an incredibly talented actor, and so as you watched him, if you saw any of this interview, as you watched him crying and engaging in histrionics, wringing his hands, looking so wildly uncomfortable, I couldn’t help but think:
“This feels like a production — a production of Alec Baldwin putting his story out there. I don’t think this was authentic. I believe he was working in concert with his lawyers to come up with the best possible story he could tell, and the best story he could tell in his mind is, “The gun went off without me pulling the trigger.” Seems highly unlikely.
STEPHANOPOULOS: (bouncy music) One of your brothers, Daniel, suggested you’ve also become a target for your political views. Do you agree with that?
BALDWIN: Well, I don’t… I don’t think that anybody has said anything about — and has — has used this as an opportunity other than people that you would fully expected to have done that.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Like President Trump?
BALDWIN: The former president of the United States said that — that I’m a wacko or whatever, and I probably shot her and killed her on purpose.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Or loaded the gun.
BALDWIN: He said I did it deliberately. He said, “He killed her deliberately,” and I thought to myself, “Just when you think that (sputters) things can’t get more surreal, here’s the former president of the United States making a comment on this tragic situation.”
CLAY: Is this real life? If Donald Trump had shot someone, Alec Baldwin would have opened up Saturday Night Live reenacting it as a skit and demanding that Donald Trump go to jail for the rest of his life. He’s going to now claim that what Trump said is unlike anything that he said about Trump? For years? How out of touch with reality is Alec Baldwin that that’s his response to this? He would have been playing Donald Trump in a Saturday Night Live skit shooting people left and right if Trump had been involved here. You all know it.
Steve Hilton to California: Vote for me, join team sanity.
The King of the '90s wishes we could all get along again.
Jennifer Sey and Clay discuss the ongoing battle to save girl's and women's sports.
Will the Bears move to Indiana, and will the reliably red state redistrict?
President Trump takes it to the moderator of Meet the Press.
C&B pierce the bubble of pomposity in which former CBS anchor Scott Pelley lives.