Trump calls on NBC to fire ‘McCarthy style Racist’ Debra Messing

After severe backlash and comparisons to the Hollywood blacklist of the 1940s and ’50s that cost hundreds of entertainment employees their jobs and livelihoods, McCormack walked back his demand for names. “I want to be clear about my social media post from last week, which has been misinterpreted in a very upsetting way,” the actor said in a statement. “I absolutely do not support blacklists or discrimination of any kind, as anyone who knows me would attest.” McCormack then reiterated that although he doesn’t support a specific blacklist, he was still adamant that he would refuse to work with anyone he confirmed to be a supporter of the president. “I’d simply like to understand where Trump’s major donations are coming from, which is a matter of public record. I am holding myself responsible for making educated and informed decisions that I can morally and ethically stand by and to do that, transparency is essential.”

Messing endorsed her co-star’s comments saying simply, “I couldn’t have said it better.”

Unmoved by the entertainers’ partial retraction of their previous comments, Trump slammed the actress in a Thursday morning tweet. “Bad ‘actress’ Debra The Mess Messing is in hot water. She wants to create a ‘Blacklist’ of Trump supporters, & is being accused of McCarthyism,” he said. “Is also being accused of being a Racist because of the terrible things she said about blacks and mental illness. If Roseanne Barr said what she did, even being on a much higher rated show, she would have been thrown off television. Will Fake News NBC allow a McCarthy style Racist to continue? ABC fired Roseanne. Watch the double standard!”

Messing currently stars in the revival of Will & Grace on NBC but the network announced in July that the show would not be renewed for another season. It was not immediately clear if Messing would continue to be affiliated with NBC after the final episodes of the show aired in 2020.

The actress received significant backlash for her call to reveal identities of Trump supporters, including from fellow members of entertainment industry. Hosts of The View Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar, both ardent critics of Trump and conservatives, characterized Messing and McCormack’s comments as inappropriate and dangerous. “Listen, the last time people did this people ended up killing themselves,” Goldberg said. “This is not a good idea. We had something called a blacklist, and a lot of really good people were accused of stuff. Nobody cared whether it was true or not. They were accused. And they lost their right to work.”

Messing was also sharply criticized on Twitter after liking a post that showed a church billboard calling black Trump supporters “mentally ill.” She later apologized for liking the tweet, but defended her belief that Trump and Republicans targeted black Americans for voter suppression. “NUMBER 1– I apologized for liking that church sign. I said I regret it,” she said in response to criticism from black comedian Terrence Williams. “I shud [sic] have thought before recklessly suppprting [sic]. You won’t accept this but black people are targeted by Trump’s GOP for voter supression [sic]. Charlottesville was about Trump supporters hating POC and Jews.”