Alec Baldwin brands NBC News ‘another casualty of the Trump era’ over town hall: ‘Rest In Peace'

Baldwin plays Trump on ‘Saturday Night Live’, which airs on NBC

Alec Baldwin attends the Comedy Central Roast of Alec Baldwin on 7 September 2019 in Beverly Hills, California (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images for Comedy Central)

Alec Baldwin has called out NBC’s news division over its decision to air a Trump town hall at the same time as a previously planned Joe Biden event.

The actor and comedian famously portrays Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live. Nonetheless, he took his own network to ask on Thursday, tweeting: “@NBCNews had a long and venerable history. …Now, they are another casualty of the Trump era. Rest In Peace, NBC News.”

Baldwin referenced several NBC figureheads as examples of the network’s “venerable” period, including Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, John Chancellor, and Nancy Dickerson.

NBC has been criticised for planning Trump’s town hall on the same day, at the same time as Biden’s own programme on ABC.

Biden and Trump were originally meant to have their second presidential debate on Thursday night, but it switched to a virtual format after Trump contracted Covid-19. Trump refused to participate in a virtual event, after which Biden announced plans to answer questions on ABC instead.

Several days later, NBC announced it would be airing a simultaneous event with Trump. Early figures show Biden leading Trump’s ratings by 2.3m.

On Thursday, Baldwin urged viewers to boycott NBC during the town hall. Pointing to his own SNL gig, he tweeted: “I work for NBC. On a fairly regular basis. Boycott NBC tonight. You won’t be missing a thing.”

Baldwin isn’t the only TV personality to have denounced NBC’s decision. Jimmy Kimmel has repeatedly criticised the move on his late-night show Jimmy Kimmel Live, which airs on ABC.