It's as if Alec Baldwin knew this comment was not going to go over well.
During a newly published interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor and upcoming host of an eponymous Sunday night talk show encountered a fan on a New York City street, who complimented him on his SNL impersonation of President Donald Trump.
"I don't know how to say this and I don't want to get it wrong either, because everything is a minefield of bombs going off," Baldwin told THR in reference to the encounter. "But ever since I played Trump, black people love me. They love me. Everywhere I go, black people go crazy. I think it's because they're most afraid of Trump. I'm not going to paint every African-American person with the same brush, but a significant number of them are sitting there going, 'This is going to be bad for black folks.'"
The comments have since sparked criticism online, where readers have taken to question the generalization.
"Black people going crazy over Alec Baldwin is news to me," one reader tweeted.
"Said no black person ever..." another critic retorted.
"Is this in character?" a third person asked.
The actor also discussed his thoughts on the #MeToo Movement that has swept Hollywood and society at large in the course of the past year.
"It's not a witch hunt because a witch hunt indicates that there is very little truth, if none at all, and there is a lot of truth here. But what worries me is that this is a fire that needs constant kindling," he said.
The Golden Globe winner went on to reveal that a publication had reached out to a former 1980s co-star last fall. Baldwin said that actress, who was unnamed in THR's report at the request of the actor and was reportedly a minor at the time of the film, notified him.
"She goes, 'Alec, they called me and they said that a wardrobe person said you sexually molested me and that you constantly had me sitting on your lap and they asked me for a comment,'" Baldwin recalled to the magazine. "I go, 'My God, what did you say?' And she said, 'I told them it was ridiculous, that you never groped me.'"
As the actor continued, "I just remember thinking in that moment, 'Wow, they're looking for people. This is a fire that needs fresh wood, and they're coming for me.'"
To read the full interview, visit The Hollywood Reporter.