Republican Schwarzenegger backs Democrat Harris for US president

LOS ANGELES, United States: Arnold Schwarzenegger, the “Terminator” star and former Republican governor of California, endorsed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris on Wednesday as the only way to “turn the page” on Donald Trump´s divisiveness.

The former bodybuilder, 77, said that while he had issues with both major parties, Trump´s rhetoric calling the United States “a trash can for the world” had made him “furious.” With just days until the November 5 election, Schwarzenegger becomes the latest of dozens of prominent former Republican officials -- including former vice president Dick Cheney -- to endorse the Democratic candidate for president over Trump.

“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,” said the actor. “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,” he wrote on X.

Since leaving office in 2011 after two terms as the governor of the most populous US state, Schwarzenegger has championed environmental issues, small businesses and immigration reform.

After the January 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, Schwarzenegger likened the attack to the Nazi Kristallnacht riots in his native Austria, and called the Republican a “failed leader” who “will go down in history as the worst president ever.” On Wednesday, he said doesn´t “like either party right now.”

“My Republicans have forgotten the beauty of the free market, driven up deficits, and rejected election results,” he said. “Democrats aren´t any better at dealing with deficits, and I worry about their local policies hurting our cities with increased crime.”