22 November 2020

Actor Edward Norton labels Donald Trump a ‘mobster bully’ over election result fiasco

Hollywood actor Edward Norton has launched a scathing attack on Donald Trump as he continues his election defeat denial.

Norton, 51, urged Americans to ‘call his bluff’ and accused the outgoing president of attempting to ‘cut a Nixon-style deal’ in exchange for leaving the Oval Office.

Speaking at length on Twitter, he said: "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’ 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 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."

Richard Nixon, who was president of the US between 1969 and 1974, was pardoned by his successor Gerald Ford when he left office following the Watergate scandal which tainted his five-year term.

Trump has made unfounded accusations of electoral ‘fraud and corruption’

(AP)

The Golden Globe winner and multi Academy Award nominated actor went on to insist that Trump should not be able to cut a deal in exchange for leaving the presidency in a quiet manner without pushing the courts for a reversal of the election decision.

“But he doesn’t have the cards," he added. "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 a** by threatening our democracy. THAT is his play.

"But he’s got junk in his hand. So call him. I will allow that he’s also a whiny, sulky, petulant, Grinchy, vindictive little 10-ply-super-soft b***h 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.

"But his contemptible, treasonous, seditious assault on the stability of our political compact isn’t about 2024, personal enrichment or anything else other than trying to use chaos & threat to the foundation of the system as leverage to trade for a safe exit.

"Call. His. Bluff. 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."

Meanwhile, on Sunday Trump continued to refute the election result despite chair of the House Republican Conference Liz Cheney calling for him to back down.

In response to Cheney, Trump tweeted: "Sorry Liz, can’t accept the results of an election with hundreds of thousands of fraudulent votes cast, enough to easily flip the Election.

"You’re just unhappy that I’m bringing the troops back home where they belong!"

As has been the case for numerous tweets from Trump since the election, Twitter flagged the post with the caption ‘This claim about election fraud is disputed’.

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