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Arnold Schwarzenegger has responded to those who are “respectfully” disagreeing with his presidential endorsement.
The Hollywood film star and former governor of California has thrown his support behind Democratic nominee Kamala Harris ahead of the US presidential election on 4 November – a surprising decision considering he is a former Republican politician.
However, on Wednesday (30 October), Schwarzenegger, who found himself embroiled in a war of words with Donald Trump back in 201, said in a post shared to X/Twitter that it was not an easy choice for him to make as he “doesn’t like either party right now”.
The Terminator star, whose credits include True Lies and Predator, 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.”
However, Schwarzenegger said he “will always be an American before I am a Republican”, which is why he is voting for Harris and Tim Walz, her vice-presidential running mate.
Schwarzenegger’s lengthy post saw him explain why he won’t be voting for Trump, stating: “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 continued: “That’s enough reason for me to share my vote with all of you. 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. Vote this week. Turn the page and put this junk behind us.”
After Schwarzenegger shared his endorsement, many social media users who won’t be voting for Harris posted their appreciation for the actor’s measured explanation of his political views.
One voter wrote: “Love you Arnie, don’t agree with your choice here at all, but that’s the beauty of being reasonable, objective, and open to discourse. We can all get along and thrive. It’s what a republic should strive to be.” To this, Schwarzenegger replied: “This is how we should disagree with each other in this country. Thank you.”
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Schwarzenegger, in response to another voter who said: “I don’t agree with him politically but I respect the man nonetheless,” wrote: “We don’t have to agree on everything, but I want to thank you for showing that we can disagree respectfully.”
Meanwhile, another voter chimed in: “I personally will likely vote for a third party candidate, but Arnold’s reasoning is logical and rational, if perhaps a bit too pragmatic for me. But that’s who he is, and why he is voting the way he is, and I don’t believe he has a motivation that he’s hiding from us. And that’s why I can respect his decision and continue to respect him.”
Schwarzenegger wrote back: “This is how we should talk about political disagreements. Thank you for being a great example.”
