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SNL’s Alec Baldwin trolls Trump with mistranslated Russian MAGA hat

By Hector Cruz

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SNL’s Donald Trump impersonator Alec Baldwin mocked the president-elect by wearing a Make America Great Again hat using incorrect Russian.

Ever since Alec Baldwin assumed the role of Donald Trump at the beginning of SNL‘s 42nd season, it’s been clear that the actor’s portrayal has got under the soon-to-be-president’s incredibly thin skin. Baldwin has not only mocked the Republican businessman on screen, but has taken to trolling Trump via social media, such as when he pledged that he would stop impersonating him if he agreed to finally release his tax returns.

The latest example of Baldwin needling Trump was his posting of a photograph on Instagram over the weekend where he was seen wearing a Russian-language “Make America Great Again” hat, a reference to the Russian government’s alleged hacking and interference during the presidential campaign to help elect Trump, who had previously praised Vladimir Putin as a “strong leader.”

However, several media outlets have since pointed out that the phrase on the hat was poorly translated. Mediaite reported that Fox News contributor and Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky, who was raised in Moscow, took to Twitter to explain that the word he used for the word “great” would be better translated as “groovy” or “awesome,” while the rest of the phrase was grammatically incorrect. CNN also spoke to several Russian speakers who noted that the Cyrillic version of the phrase was likely generated using Google Translate, contributing to the incorrect grammar.

The photo garnered over 27,000 likes and more than 2,000 comments on Instagram, with some users praising the move and others bashing Baldwin, while a few pointed out the mistranslation.

“Comrades don’t let comrades use Google Translate. It should say ‘Вернём Америке былое величие’,” posted one user.

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Baldwin hasn’t played Trump in several weeks while the show has been on hiatus, but he will likely be back when the show returns ahead of the inauguration. The role recently earned him a Critics’ Choice Award, winning along with SNL cast member Kate McKinnon, who has appeared alongside the actor as Hillary Clinton and Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway.

But his impression has caused a rift between him and his brother Stephen, who competed on Celebrity Apprentice, with their younger brother Billy Baldwin taking the 30 Rock actor’s side. It also caught the attention of Baldwin’s former co-star Tina Fey, who warned Trump in an interview with David Letterman that he may have met his match in the actor, stating, “You think you’re good at being a jerk on Twitter? You will now face the grandmaster of being a jerk on Twitter.”

So far, Trump has not responded to Baldwin’s mockery, instead directing his ire towards Meryl Streep, who not so subtly jabbed the former Apprentice host during her acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille Award at Sunday’s Golden Globes, where the president-elect was the target of several barbs by host Jimmy Fallon and even Hugh Laurie, who won for The Night Manager.

Next: SNL’s Leslie Jones reacts to Milo Yiannopoulos’ $250000 book deal

SNL returns this Saturday, Jan. 14 at 11:30 p.m. on NBC.

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