“Edward Norton offered a scathing rebuke of President Donald Trump this week, using poker terminology to describe the commander in chief’s continued efforts to subvert 2020 election results. The “Fight Club” actor on Friday said in a Twitter thread that he learned a lot about politics from his father, who was a federal prosecutor. He added that he “sat a fair amount of poker with] serious players” and was able to discern Trump’s motivations, which point to a “desperate endgame.” I’m no political pundit but I grew up w a dad who was a federal prosecutor & he taught me a lot & I’ve also sat a fair amount of poker w serious players & l’ll say this: I do not think Trump is trying to ‘make his base happy’ or ‘laying the groundwork for his own network’…— Edward Norton (@EdwardNorton) November 20, 2020 …or that ‘chaos is what he loves’. The core of it is that he knows he’s in deep, multi-dimensional legal jeopardy & this defines his every action. We’re seeing 1) a tactical delay of the transition to buy time for coverup & evidence suppression 2) above all, a desperate endgame— Edward Norton (@EdwardNorton) November 20, 2020 His ‘turn card’ bluff will be an escalation & his ‘River card’ bluff could be really ugly. But they have to be called. We cannot let this mobster bully the USA into a deal to save his ass by threatening our democracy. THAT is his play. But he’s got junk in his hand. So call him.— Edward Norton (@EdwardNorton) November 20, 2020 Norton described the president as “a whiny, sulky, petulant, Grinchy, vindictive little 10-ply-super-soft bitch” who was “throwing a wicked pout fest” without giving any thought to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, the actor didn’t think Trump is planning a 2024 bid for the presidency, as has been widely reported. Instead, he believed the president was focused on using “chaos and] threat” to guarantee “a safe exit,” adding: “Call. His. Bluff.” He concluded the thread with a rallying cry to Americans. Faith in the strength of our sacred institutions & founding principles is severely stretched…but they will hold. They will. He’s leaving, gracelessly & in infamy. But if we trade for it, give him some brokered settlement, we’ll be vulnerable to his return. We can’t flinch.— Edward Norton (@EdwardNorton) November 20, 2020 The thread had garnered more than 540,000 combined likes from Twitter users as of Friday. Though President-elect Joe Biden secured his win four days after election night on Nov. 7, Trump has refused to concede or otherwise publicly acknowledge his loss. Meanwhile, his campaign has alleged ― without evidence ― that Biden’s victory was the result of voter fraud and has pressed for ballot recounts that have not changed the election’s outcome. Norton last year cited Trump’s 2016 election victory as the partial inspiration for his performance in the film “Motherless Brooklyn,” which he also wrote and directed based on Jonathan Lethem’s novel. “You have probably the deepest cynicism that had ever emerged in American society, and that film was responsive to that,” he told Vanity Fair. “What we’re going through now is provoking a lot of looking at what sits under the surface of American life. It’s] especially resonant when you’re going through moments that are giving people deep dismay.”
