Alec Baldwin says it was ‘surreal’ to see Trump claim actor had killed Halyna Hutchins on purpose

‘Just when you think that things can’t get more surreal, here’s the former president making a comment’

Alec Baldwin has addressed Donald Trump’s suggestion that his fatal shooting on the Rust movie set may have been deliberate, saying it was “surreal” to see the former president “making a comment on this tragic situation”.

The actor, who was holding the gun when it went off and killed Halyna Hutchins, spoke to ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday (30 November) for an hour-long special.

Cinematographer Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza was wounded on the set of Rust on 21 October, after Baldwin, 63, was handed a prop gun which turned out to be loaded.

“Just when you think that things can’t get more surreal, here’s the former president of the United States making a comment on this tragic situation,” Baldwin told Stephanopoulos.

Baldwin denied having pulled the trigger during the interview, saying he pulled back and later released the hammer of the gun and a shot rang out.

Mr Trump, however, had suggested without evidence during a radio interview last month that Baldwin, who has frequently mocked him on Saturday Night Live, may have deliberately shot his two colleagues.

“He’s a troubled guy,” Trump alleged during the interview. “There’s something wrong with him. I’ve watched him for years. He gets into fistfights with reporters. Look, I don’t like reporters. I like some, some are great, some are talented, but you don’t get into fistfights. I mean, everything he does, he’s a volatile guy. He’s a nutjob.”

The former president added that he would not have pointed a weapon at someone in that situation.

“If they handed me a gun, I would never point it at somebody and shoot it, you know,” Trump said. “I don’t care about checking the gun, you know, you can look at [it] any which way... It’s not even like an actress that’s on set with you, this was a cinematographer, so that means he took the gun and pointed it at a cinematographer, pulled the trigger and she was dead. It’s weird.”

“I think just by natural [instinct]... I think I would have pointed it up in the air, but you can also look to see if it’s loaded. But who would take a gun and point it at a cinematographer and pull the trigger, and she’s dead,” he added.

Officials have been investigating how live ammunition ended up in the gun, but Mr Trump suggested without any evidence that Baldwin could have loaded it himself.

“Maybe he loaded it. There’s something wrong with him, he’s a sick guy,” he said and then criticised Baldwin’s performances during Saturday Night Live.