Arnold Schwarzenegger hopes to turn the page on Trump with Kamala Harris endorsement
Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger endorsed Kamala Harris for president Wednesday morning in a lengthy social media post that warned another Trump presidency would make America more divided and more hateful.
The Republican actor and politician urged his followers to vote for Harris and close the door on former President Donald Trump’s chapter of American history.
“Turn the page and put this junk behind us,” Schwarzenegger said.
Schwarzenegger, California governor from 2003 to 2011, criticized Democrats and Republicans for failing to fix the nation’s broken immigration system and driving up government deficits. He noted that he disagreed with some of Harris’ policies but Trump’s divisiveness outweighed those concerns.
Schwarzenegger cast Trump as un-American and someone who puts his, and his donors’ interests ahead of the country’s. He said that “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.”
With the former governor’s endorsement, Schwarzenegger joined several other high-profile Republicans endorsing Harris over Trump. Others include former Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake and former Vice President Dick Cheney.
Harris has said she would appoint a Republican to her Cabinet. She and former Rep. Cheney recently campaigned together in several swing states.
Schwarzenegger has long been at odds with Trump. While he didn’t endorse Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race, Schwarzenegger said he would not vote for Trump. After the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in 2021., Schwarzenegger said in a video address that Trump “will go down in history as the worst president ever.”
Schwarzenegger acknowledged the public’s frustration with politics, though he implored voters that a Harris presidency was the only way to move the country forward.
“I will always be an American before I am a Republican,” he said.
Also on Wednesday, Buzz Aldrin endorsed Donald Trump.
The 94-year-old former astronaut and brigadier general, the second man to walk on the moon in 1969, said Trump revitalized America’s interest in space and enhanced the country’s defenses through the creation of the U.S. Space Force.
This story was originally published October 30, 2024 at 2:28 PM with the headline "Arnold Schwarzenegger hopes to turn the page on Trump with Kamala Harris endorsement."
