Editing Alec Baldwin (section)

==Political views==
Baldwin is a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] and endorsed [[Barack Obama]] in his two presidential campaigns.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/alec-baldwin/bush-three-is-wrong----is_b_97881.html| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211026/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/alec-baldwin/bush-three-is-wrong----is_b_97881.html| archive-date=October 26, 2021|work=[[Huffington Post]]|first=Alec|last=Baldwin|title=Bush Three Is Wrong – Is Clinton Three Any Better?|date=October 13, 2008}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Weinger|first=Mackenzie|title=Hollywood stars open wallets for Obama|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/59184.html| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211026/http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/59184.html| archive-date=October 26, 2021|work=[[Politico]]|access-date=October 11, 2014|date=July 16, 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He serves on the board of [[People for the American Way]]. He is an [[animal rights]] activist and a staunch supporter of [[PETA]],<ref>{{Cite news|title=A Night Out With: Alec Baldwin; Mellow Is Not His Role|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0C13FD355C0C718EDDAF0894DB404482|date=June 22, 2003|first=Hilary|last=De Vries|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=March 10, 2011}}</ref> for which he has done work that includes narrating the video entitled ''[[Meet Your Meat]]''.<ref name="Alec Baldwin to receive award at PETA gala"/> Baldwin lent his support to the [[Save the Manatee Club]] by donating his time to record several public service announcements for the group, which had contacted him following his role in "[[The Bonfire of the Manatees]]", an episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' in which he was the voice of a biologist working to save the endangered mammals.<ref>{{Cite press release|title=Alec Baldwin speaks out for manatees|url=http://www.savethemanatee.org/news_pr_baldwin_psas.html|date=July 31, 2007|access-date=August 20, 2011|publisher=[[Save the Manatee Club]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927130613/http://www.savethemanatee.org/news_pr_baldwin_psas.html|archive-date=September 27, 2011}}</ref> Baldwin also gave his support for [[Farm Sanctuary]]'s Adopt A Turkey Project and stated, "At least 46 million turkeys suffer heartbreaking fear and pain before being killed each and every Thanksgiving..."<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/4545331/alec-baldwin-adopt-a-turkey/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211026/http://time.com/4545331/alec-baldwin-adopt-a-turkey/| archive-date=October 26, 2021|title=Alec Baldwin Wants You to Adopt a Turkey This Thanksgiving|last=Bruner|first=Raisa|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=January 4, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In a couple of letters to ''[[The East Hampton Star]]'' in 1998, he called New York Governor [[George Pataki]] either a liar or incredibly stupid and asked whether [[Kenneth Star]] was a psychopath.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Première (magazine)|Premiere]]|title=The mouth that roared|date=March 1999|page=44|last=Agresti|first=Aimee}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The East Hampton Star]]|title=Letters|date=June 18, 1998|page=}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The East Hampton Star]]|title=Letters|date=August 20, 1998|page=}}</ref>

During his appearance on the comedy late night show ''[[Late Night with Conan O'Brien]]'' on December 11, 1998, eight days before President [[Bill Clinton]] was to be [[Impeachment of Bill Clinton|impeached]], Baldwin gave a staged rant, meant as satire, "If we were in another country ... we would stone [[Henry Hyde]] to death and we would go to their homes and kill their wives and their children. We would kill their families, for what they're doing to this country." At the end of his rant, O'Brien pulled out an oxygen mask and put it over Baldwin's mouth to calm Baldwin down.<ref>{{cite web |last=Baker |first=Brent H. |url=http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/1998/cyb19981215.asp#5 |title=Stone Henry Hyde to Death! |work=CyberAlert |date=December 16, 1998 |publisher=Media Research Center |access-date=March 3, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110114055459/http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/1998/cyb19981215.asp#5 |archive-date=January 14, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Baldwin later apologized to Hyde for any misunderstanding, and the network explained that it was meant as a joke and promised not to re-run it.<ref name="Constant Conflict: Politics, Culture, and the Struggle for America's Future"/><ref name=premiere>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Première (magazine)|Premiere]]|title=Going Postal|last=Baldwin|first=Alec|date=June 1999|page=20}}</ref>

Baldwin said in a 2006 interview with ''[[The New York Times]]'' that if he did become involved in electoral politics, he would prefer to run for [[Governor of New York]]. When asked if he was qualified for the office, Baldwin responded that he considered himself more qualified than California Governor [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]].<ref name="Getting In on the Sitcom Act"/> On December 21, 2011, Baldwin, addressing speculation, said he was abandoning plans to run for mayor of New York City and would instead continue in his role on ''30 Rock''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/alec-baldwin-rules-2013-mayoral-campaign-article-1.995075| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211026/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/alec-baldwin-rules-2013-mayoral-campaign-article-1.995075| archive-date=October 26, 2021|title=Alec Baldwin rules out 2013 NYC mayoral campaign|date=December 21, 2011|access-date=December 23, 2011|first=Richard|last=Johnson|work=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]|location=New York}}{{cbignore}}</ref> That April, he suggested he might change his mind, saying, "Let's see what things are like in 2014. I would love to do it."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/blogs/click/2012/04/alec-baldwin-teases-political-run-again-120819| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211026/https://www.politico.com/blogs/click/2012/04/alec-baldwin-teases-political-run-again-120819| archive-date=October 26, 2021|title= Alec Baldwin teases political run, again|first=Caitlin|last=McDevitt|date=April 17, 2012|access-date=April 9, 2019| work=[[Politico]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/video/90780039-alec-baldwin-i-paid-32-tax-rate.html| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211026/https://www.bloomberg.com/video/90780039-alec-baldwin-i-paid-32-tax-rate.html| archive-date=October 26, 2021|title=Alec Baldwin: I Paid 32% Tax Rate|publisher=[[Bloomberg TV]]|date=April 17, 2012|access-date= April 9, 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In February 2009, Baldwin spoke out to encourage state leaders to renew New York's [[Movie production incentives in the United States|tax break for the film and television industry]], stating that if the "tax breaks are not reinstated into the budget, film production in this town is going to collapse and television production is going to collapse and it's all going to go to California".<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.ny1.com/archives/nyc/all-boroughs/2009/02/26/alec-baldwin-calls-on-governor-to-extend-tax-credit-NYC_94633.old.html|title=Alec Baldwin Calls on Governor To Extend Tax Credit|publisher=[[NY1]]|date=February 27, 2009|access-date=November 17, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117222539/http://www.ny1.com/archives/nyc/all-boroughs/2009/02/26/alec-baldwin-calls-on-governor-to-extend-tax-credit-NYC_94633.old.html|archive-date=November 17, 2016}}</ref>

During the [[63rd Primetime Emmy Awards]] in 2011, televised by [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]], Baldwin was slated to appear in a taped skit. However, the producers of the show cut a portion of the skit containing a reference to [[Rupert Murdoch]] and the [[News International phone hacking scandal]]. Baldwin subsequently boycotted the [[Emmy Award]]s and requested that his entire appearance be removed from the broadcast. Producers complied and he was replaced with [[Leonard Nimoy]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Damien|last=Pearse|title=Baldwin out of Emmys after hacking joke nixed|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2011/sep/19/alec-baldwin-emmys-phone-hacking| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211026/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2011/sep/19/alec-baldwin-emmys-phone-hacking| archive-date=October 26, 2021|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=November 19, 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref>