Arnold Schwarzenegger endorses Kamala Harris and Tim Walz: 'I will always be an American before I am a Republican'
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former Republican governor of California, has stated that he will back Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in next week's election.
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Fane
Schwarzenegger, 77, stated in a lengthy post on X that he does not "really do endorsements"... He felt obligated to openly endorse Harris and her choice for vice president, Tim Walz, despite the fact that he "hate[s] politics" and does not "trust most politicians".
"I will always be an American before I am a Republican," he said. "That is why, this week, I will vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. I'm sharing it with everyone since I believe many of you feel the same way I do. You do not recognise our country. And you're right to be upset."
Schwarzenegger, who stepped away from acting between 2003 and 2011 while serving in California, went on to say that he was disappointed in all those in power in the United States over the last few decades who have talked about addressing the national debt and "our broken immigration system" but have failed to do so. This continued during election campaigning, he claimed, as politicians favor "having talking points" for elections over doing "the public service that will make Americans' lives better."
"To them, it's simply a game. But this is life for my fellow Americans. Schwarzenegger wrote, "We should be pissed." "But a candidate who won't respect your vote unless it is for him, a candidate who will send his followers to storm the Capitol while he watches with a Diet Coke, a candidate who has shown no ability to work to pass any policy besides a tax cut that helped his donors and other rich people like me but helped no one else else, a candidate who thinks Americans who disagree with him are the bigger enemies than China, Russia, or North Korea - that won't solve our problems."
Schwarzenegger, who took over hosting The New Celebrity Apprentice from Donald Trump in 2016, has long been a vocal opponent of the former president and current Republican nominee. Schwarzenegger compared the Capitol attack on January 6 to Nazi Germany's Kristallnacht and called Trump a "failed leader." "He will be remembered as the worst president ever."
He returned to the aftermath of the 2020 election on X, declaring that "rejecting election results is as un-American as it gets." To someone like me who speaks with people all over the world and who believes America is the shining city on a hill, calling America [a] trash can for the world is so unpatriotic that it enrages me."
If Trump is re-elected, he says, "it will just be four more years of bullshit with no results, making us angrier and angrier, more divided, and more hateful." We need to close this chapter in American history, and I know former President Trump will not do so."
"I want to move forward as a country," said the governor, "and even though I have plenty of disagreements with their platform, I think the only way to do that is with Harris and Walz."
