The 'Will and Grace' stars claim their tweets asking for a list of Donald Trump's sponsors have been 'misinterpreted in a very upsetting way' and insist that they don't condone 'blacklists or discrimination of any kind.'

• Sep 4, 2019

AceShowbiz - Debra Messing and Eric McCormack have spoken up after their comments about Donald Trump's supporters caused uproar. The "Will & Grace" stars were called out for asking to reveal a list of attendees at Trump's upcoming Beverly Hills fundraiser and shaming donors to his re-election campaign.

Following the backlash, Eric posted a statement on Instagram to clarify his initial remark about Trump's supporters. "I want to be clear about my social media post from last week, which has been misinterpreted in a very upsetting way," he wrote on Tuesday, September 3.

Adding that "I absolutely do not support blacklists or discrimination of any kind, as anyone who knows me would attest," he claimed that his intention with the list was simply "to understand where Trump's major donations are coming from, which is a matter of public record."

He added, "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."

Echoing her co-star, Debra reposted Eric's statement on her own Instagram account and added in the caption, "My friend @eric_mccormack posted this today. It perfectly explains the intent behind each of our posts concerning the fundraiser. I am posting it here because, honestly, I couldn’t have said it better."

Previously, Debra tweeted, "Please print a list of all attendees please. The public has a right to know," referencing to Trump's upcoming fundraiser to be held during Emmys week. She added later, "I am proud to be a donor when I contribute to a campaign. I am happy to be listed when I attend a fundraiser. I am assuming anyone who donates to Trump's fundraiser would feel the same. Why wouldn't they?"

Eric supported Debra, tweeting, "Kindly report on everyone attending this event, so the rest of us can be clear about who we don't wanna work with."

Their comments became an object of discussion in the new season premiere "The View". Co-host Joy Behar who first shared her thought on the matter jokingly called it a "white-list," before she went more serious by saying that she was against it.

When co-host Sunny Hostin argued that the list is already out there and people should be proud of whom they're voting for, Whoopi Goldberg cut her off. Appearing to be angry at the idea of the Trump blacklist, she suggested that Debra and Eric promoted hatred and endangered people by asking for the list. "Listen, the last time people did this, people ended up killing themselves," she said, referring to Joseph McCarthy's Hollywood blacklist of the 1950s.

"This is not a good idea, OK?" she continued, as Meghan McCain nodded in agreement. "Your idea of who you don't want to work with is your personal business. Do not encourage people to print out lists because the next list that comes out, your name will be on and then people will be coming after you."

The actress/comedian added with a rising voice, "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. You don't have the right! In this country, people can vote for who they want to. That is one of the great rights of this country."