Arnold Schwarzenegger says he dislikes both parties but here's who he is endorsing
Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks onstage during The Wall Street Journals Tech Live Conference at Montage Laguna Beach on October 16, 2023 in Laguna Beach, California. (Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for The Wall Street Journal)
LOS ANGELES - Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday posted a long statement on X, saying that he is hating both political parties at the moment, but even so, endorsed one presidential candidate over the other.
"Let me be honest with you: I don’t like either party right now," he wrote. "My Republicans have forgotten the beauty of the free market, driven up deficits, and rejected election results. Democrats aren’t any better at dealing with deficits, and I worry about their local policies hurting our cities with increased crime."
"It is probably not a surprise that I hate politics more than ever, which, if you are a normal person who isn’t addicted to this crap, you probably understand."
But the actor-turned-former-governor said that while he typically doesn't "do endorsements," he also just can't "tune out" of American politics.
"That's why, this week, I am voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz," he wrote.
The "Terminator" star said while he is supporting the Democratic presidential nominee, he "will always be an American before I am a Republican."
Schwarzenegger then took aim at former President Donald Trump, telling his millions of followers that "rejecting the results of an election is as un-American as it gets."
"To someone like me who talks to people all over the world and still knows America is the shining city on a hill, calling America...a trash can for the world is so unpatriotic, it makes me furious," he said, referring to Trump's remarks in Arizona last week when he compared the United States to a "garbage can for the world."
With a week to go, Harris and Trump make final case
Vice President Kamala Harris strategically chose to give her closing argument in DC. She spoke at the same place where Former President Donald Trump addressed his supporters, before a mob stormed the Capitol on January 6th, 2021.Trump was in the swing state of Pennslyvania, where he told the crowd, if they win the state, they win it all.
He went on to describe Trump as "a candidate who won't respect your vote unless it is for him" and "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."
Schwarzenegger added that Trump is 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," he wrote. "It will just be four more years of bulls*** with no results that makes us angrier and angrier, more divided, and more hateful."
"We need to close the door on this chapter of American history, and I know that former President Trump won't do that. He will divide, he will insult, he will find new ways to be more un-American than he already has been, and we, the people, will get nothing but more anger," he added.
Schwarzenegger is the latest prominent Republican to endorse Harris and Walz.
The growing list includes former vice president Dick Cheney, former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, and top George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, and John McCain officials, many who served under Trump.
Read Schwarzenegger's entire statement: