Published: 1:23am, 31 Oct 2024Updated: 1:56am, 31 Oct 2024
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.
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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 US 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 social media.
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.