Actor Edward Norton said this week that President Trump represents a greater threat to the country than Richard Nixon and Vietnam-era Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, arguing the current political moment is defined by a level of corruption and incompetence he said has no parallel in American history.
Mr. Norton made the remarks during an appearance on “Where Everybody Knows Your Name,” the podcast hosted by “Cheers” actor Ted Danson. The episode, released this week, also touched on Mr. Norton’s work in “The Invite,” the new A24 comedy directed by Olivia Wilde that opened in limited release Friday.
During the conversation, Mr. Norton drew a comparison between the anti-war protests of the Vietnam era and the political climate under Mr. Trump, arguing that public anxiety during both periods reached similarly acute levels. He said he believed, however, that the Nixon and McNamara years were less damaging in one crucial respect.
“I think Trump is worse, worse than Nixon and McNamara by far,” Mr. Norton said. “You can actually credit Nixon and McNamara with some dimension of competency.”
He went on to argue that the Trump administration represents an unprecedented combination of self-dealing and governmental dysfunction.
“We’re in a level of incompetency and grift and corruption that is unprecedented in the history of this country,” Mr. Norton said, while also acknowledging the severity of the civil rights era, including the Selma marches and anti-war unrest, saying people at the time “thought the whole country was coming unglued.”
“The Invite,” which earned strong reviews following its Sundance debut with a 92% score on Rotten Tomatoes, stars Mr. Norton alongside Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Ms. Wilde in a dinner-party comedy acquired by A24 following its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
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