FACT CHECK: Did Donald Trump Put Out This Statement About Alec Baldwin?
An image shared on Facebook allegedly shows a statement by former President Donald Trump about actor Alec Baldwin’s on-set shooting incident.
Verdict: False
There is no record of Trump sending out the statement.
Fact Check:
Baldwin on Oct. 21 accidentally fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza on the set of the movie “Rust” in New Mexico when a prop gun he was holding discharged, according to NPR.
The deadly incident has sparked some misinformation to circulate on social media. The latest instance appears to be an image of a purported Oct. 27 statement from Trump criticizing Baldwin in connection to the on-set shooting. It includes the “Save America” letterhead.
“A great President (me) once said ‘I could shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.’ Now Alec Baldwin, a total loser, has taken his impression of me to a new low by testing out this theory,” reads the supposed statement. “Alec, you aren’t me! Now you’re going to prison, as you should have because of that awful, terrible job you did on SNL (which I have hosted).”
There is, however, no record of Trump putting out the statement. Check Your Fact reviewed the various releases on Trump’s website and did not find any matching the one in the Facebook post. Statements that Trump released Oct. 27 include one endorsing a nominee for Staten Island Borough President, one criticizing a proposed “Billionaire Tax” and one thanking supporters for chanting “We Love Trump” in Arlington, Virginia, among others.
Liz Harrington, a spokesperson for Trump, has also not posted the supposed press release on her Twitter account, where she often shares pictures of statements from Trump. There don’t appear to be any major news outlets reporting Trump put out the statement, either
Margo Martin, the deputy press secretary for Trump’s office, confirmed to Check Your Fact in an email that the image “is not a real press release.” (RELATED: Did Donald Trump Release A Statement Calling Tom Brady ‘Shady’?)
While the statement in the Facebook post is fabricated, the former president did mention Baldwin in one he put out in June. In the statement, Trump criticized the actor’s portrayal of him on “Saturday Night Live.”
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