(The Hill) – Arnold Schwarzenegger is crossing party lines and endorsing Vice President Harris, warning that a second Trump presidency would only sow division and lead to “four more years of bulls—.”
“I don’t really do endorsements. I’m not shy about sharing my views, but I hate politics and don’t trust most politicians,” Schwarzenegger said in a Wednesday post on X.
“I also understand that people want to hear from me because I am not just a celebrity, I am a former Republican Governor,” the “Terminator” star said. Schwarzenegger served as California governor from 2003 to 2011.
“Let me be honest with you: I don’t like either party right now. 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,” Schwarzenegger, 77, said.
“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. I want to tune out. But I can’t,” he said.
Without naming Donald Trump, Schwarzenegger took aim at the former president, telling his 5 million 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.
“And I will always be an American before I am a Republican. That’s why, this week, I am voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz,” Schwarzenegger said.
“I’m sharing it with all of you because I think there are a lot of you who feel like I do. You don’t recognize our country. And you are right to be furious,” he went on, adding that “Washington does nothing” about issues including the national debt and immigration reform.
“The only people that benefit from this crap are the politicians who prefer having talking points to win elections to the public service that will make Americans’ lives better. It is a just game to them. But it is life for my fellow Americans. We should be pissed!” Schwarzenegger said.
Offering a blistering condemnation of Trump and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, Schwarzenegger said, “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, 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.”
“It will just be four more years of bulls— with no results that makes us angrier and angrier, more divided, and more hateful,” the ex-bodybuilder, who was born in Austria and became a U.S. citizen in 1983, said.
Schwarzenegger has been a vocal critic of Trump over the years.
The 45th president and Schwarzenegger engaged in a war of words in 2017, when the former action movie star replaced Trump as host of the reality TV competition “Celebrity Apprentice.” Trump repeatedly mocked Schwarzenegger’s ratings as the new face of the NBC series.
“We need to close the door on this chapter of American history, and I know that former President Trump won’t do that,” Schwarzenegger said in his Wednesday social media post.
“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.”
“I want to move forward as a country, and even though I have plenty of disagreements with their platform, I think the only way to do that is with Harris and Walz,” Schwarzenegger said.
Urging Americans to “vote this week,” Schwarzenegger said, “Turn the page and put this junk behind us. And even if you disagree with me, vote, because that’s what we do as Americans.”