John Cusack dishes Michael Jordan stories and urges fellow Bernie fans to "pull the lever" for Biden
John Cusack wasn’t having it when Jimmy Kimmel tried comparing him to Michael Jordan on Wednesday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live. “No—no, no, no, no, no, no, no,” is how a hand-waving Cusack put it, to be precise, with the famously Chicago-born actor demurring sincerely at any thought of him and the former Bulls legend sharing the same celebrity space. He did, however, concede that he and Jordan used to head out on the town on occasion, calling the two of them, “acquaintance/friend Chicago guys,” an honor that came with some noteworthy peril back in the day. Clearly relishing the pre-cellphone days when a couple of local superstars could go get drunk at a local watering hole, Cusack told of a night when he, Jordan, and a certain other Chicago sports legend got into some “roughhousing and alcohol with people who were really big and strong” and Super Bowl MVP Richard Dent peremptorily (and effortlessly) hoisted the 6'2" actor over his head—with one hand.
Cusack, currently starring in Amazon’s dystopian series Utopia (with its clip of Cusack pushing scientist Rainn Wilson to prematurely endorse a pandemic flu vaccine, eerily enough), explained that any semblance of actual friendship with Jordan is short-circuited by his irresistible tendency to “fan out.” Like asking Jordan, for example, which NBA player was the toughest defender he ever faced. (Celtics fans should enjoy the answer, in which Cusack claims that said player was the reason Jordan had to develop his fadeaway jumper, to overcome those Frankenstein arms.) Speaking of fanning out, Kimmel also asked the notably (and sometimes Twitter-inadvisably) vocal Cusack about the upcoming (as in 19 days, people) presidential election. A steadfast Bernie Sanders supporter, Cusack flew in the face of the purity-testing, toss your vote in the Chicago River stereotypes and explained that, of course he’s voting for Joe Biden.
Calling the choice between Biden and Donald Trump an easy one even for progressives to make at this point, Cusack urged his fellow Bernie-stans to “pull the lever” for Biden, rather than pulling the privileged third party or staying at home move that got us here in the first place. The fact that Sanders has assured supporters that he has received left-leaning concessions from the Biden/Harris camp (and that, as Cusack says, Biden has promised Sanders will “be in charge of health care reform”) doesn’t hurt, naturally. But the now 54-year-old actor laid out his big picture thinking pretty clearly, explaining that sitting this one out means “you get fascism with Trump.”
Vote.