In the wake of Rudy Giuliani’s disastrous press conference on Thursday, followed by the announcement that Donald Trump invited Michigan GOP officials to the White House in an effort to overturn the state’s election results, Edward Norton posted an early morning Twitter thread on Friday that attempts to explain the president’s desperate behavior, and why it will fail.
According to Norton, Trump’s actions aren’t to make his base happy or lay the groundwork for Trump TV. Instead, the Fight Club actor theorizes that Trump is delaying a peaceful transition for two reasons: to suppress evidence and to create enough chaos and anxiety that he can “cut a Nixon-style deal” to prevent “irreparable damage to the system.” However, Norton says America needs to stay strong and call Trump’s bluff:
His bluff after ‘the flop’ has been called in court… 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.
Norton ends his thread with the belief that America can survive Trump’s assault if we hold strong. “Faith in the strength of our sacred institutions & founding principles is severely stretched… but they will hold,” he writes. “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.”
You can read the whole thread below:
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
…which is to create enough chaos & anxiety about peaceful transfer of power, & fear of irreparable damage to the system, that he can cut a Nixon-style deal in exchange for finally conceding. But he doesn’t have the cards. His bluff after ‘the flop’ has been called in court…
— Edward Norton (@EdwardNorton) November 20, 2020
I will allow that he’s also a whiny, sulky, petulant, Grinchy, vindictive little 10-ply-super-soft bitch who no doubt is just throwing a wicked pout fest & trying to give a tiny-hand middle finger to the whole country for pure spite, without a single thought for the dead & dying
— Edward Norton (@EdwardNorton) November 20, 2020
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
Norton’s words were also a big hit on Twitter, where people were surprised at the nuanced political analysis from The Incredible Hulk star:
When Edward Norton tweets about Trump with a poker analogy pic.twitter.com/qnpwkSbg35
— saint.even (@saintevenlive) November 20, 2020
Didn’t expect to wake up this morning and find Edward Norton’s third eye open and galaxy brain activated but here we are.
— Eric Francisco (@EricFrancisco24) November 20, 2020
I’ve always had a latent crush on Edward Norton, but that tweet… pic.twitter.com/Ekd5E9G2bL
— Scott Laird (@AbFabSkyLife) November 20, 2020
Edward Norton verbally kicked Donald Trump’s ass this morning and he didn’t even break the first rule of fight club. pic.twitter.com/Eyz1cT5fb8
— Shamar English (@english_shamar) November 20, 2020
Edward Norton called Donald Trump a ’10-ply-super-soft-bitch’ and I want to apologize for everything I’ve tweeted about Motherless Brooklyn.
— Billy Procida (@TheBillyProcida) November 20, 2020
(Via Edward Norton on Twitter)