Arnold Schwarzenegger says anyone who doesn't wear a mask is a schmuck

LOS ANGELES - The Terminator doesn't mince words.

Actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger chewed out people who won't get vaccinated and said anyone who won't wear a mask is a schmuck. 

"We have to come together rather than fighting and always just saying, ‘According to my principles this is a free country and I have the freedom to wear no mask,’" he said. "Yeah, you have the freedom to wear no mask, but you know something? You’re a schmuck for not wearing a mask."

In an interview on Tuesday, Schwarzenegger told former National Security Council staffer Alexander Vindam and CNN's Bianna Golodryga that he’s disgusted with the coronavirus misinformation out there and the Americans who think their actions don’t affect others. 

Case in point: A group of protesters in Novato threatening to boycott business that screen customers for vaccination status and enforce masking. 

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Though he wasn't speaking directly to them, Schwarzenegger addressed the main concerns of these like-minded protesters, who argue that their freedoms are being infringed upon because they're being told to wear a mask and get vaccinated to protect themselves and others from spreading the deadly coronavirus.

"People like this, he said, can't just say: ‘Well, my freedom is being kind of disturbed here,’" he said. "No, screw your freedom. Because with freedom comes obligations and responsibilities. You cannot just say, ‘I have the right to do x, y, and z,’ when you affect other people. That is when it gets serious."

Schwarzenegger compared mask mandates to having to stop at  traffic lights, which are put into place to prevent death and injury. 

"You cannot say, ‘No one is going to tell me that I’m going to stop here, I’m going to go right through it,’ " Schwarzenegger said. "Yeah, then you kill someone else. It is the same thing with the virus. You cannot go and not put the mask on because when you breathe you can infect someone else, and you can infect someone that then gets sick and may die."

Schwarzenegger, a Republican, urged the country to stop being so divided on scientific, public health issues. The only way to curb the disease is to wear a mask, get vaccinated, wash your hands and keep your distance. 

And he added that people shouldn't take advice from him, an actor, politician and body builder. They should heed the advice of doctors and scientists around the globe. 

"Look, I am an expert on how to build a bicep," he told the panel. "There’s no one who knows more about a bicep than I do because I studied this issue for 50 years. And the same is also with the virus. There are people out there who are experts that studied this year after year after year…Dr. Anthony Fauci (has studied viruses) for his entire life, why would you not believe someone like that?"