Former California Governor and Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger lashed out at pro-Trump rioters who attacked the US Capitol last week, drawing comparisons to Nazi Germany and accusing President Donald Trump of an attempted coup. In a video posted to social media, Schwarzenegger said that Trump would be the worst president in the history of the United States. He asked the people of America to stand united and support President-Elect Joe Biden.
Schwarzenegger released a seven-and-a-half minute video where he described the attack on the US Capitol as Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, when Nazis in Germany carried out pogroms against Jews during Hitler’s rule and broke the windows of Jewish-owned stores in November 1938. "Wednesday was the day of the broken glass right here in the United States," he said. The video currently has over 30 million views.
My message to my fellow Americans and friends around the world following this week's attack on the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/blOy35LWJ5
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) January 10, 2021
On Wednesday last week, thousands of rioters violently stormed the US Capitol building to attempt to halt the ceremonial counting of votes following the 2020 US presidential election. Visuals of rioting, vandalism and people scaling walls were quickly shared on social media. Four were killed and dozens were arrested, officials had said.
Schwarzenegger said the mob did not just shatter the windows of the Capitol, "they shattered the ideas we took for granted. They did not just break down the doors of the building that house American democracy. They trampled the very principles on which our country was founded."
He shared that he was born in Austria in 1947, two years after World War II. He addressed his growing days surrounded by “broken men” who drank away their guilt over their participation in the Second World War.
He also shared his personal experience of his father drinking and abusing him and his mother. Schwarzenegger also shared he did not hold him responsible. "They were in physical pain from the shrapnel in their bodies and in emotional pain of what they saw and did,” he said. He stated, "I do believe that we must be aware of the dire consequences of selfishness and cynicism.”
Schwarzenegger slammed Trump for misleading the people with lies in his attempt to overturn the results of the election. "My father and neighbours were also misled with such lies and I know where such lies lead," he said.
He also accused elected officials and fellow Republicans of enabling President Trump. He quoted Teddy Roosevelt, saying, "Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president,” adding that "they're complicit with those who carried the flag of self-righteous insurrection into the Capitol.”
In the video, Arnold showed Conan's sword from the 1982 film Conan the Barbarian, in which he starred. The actor took that as a metaphor to describe the American democracy, saying "the more it is tempered, the stronger it becomes."
The former California governor Arnold also urged people of all political affiliations to support President-elect Joe Biden. "President-Elect Biden, we wish you great success as our president." He also added, "To those who think they can overturn the United States Constitution, know this: you will never win."