US: Hollywood actor and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger lashed out at pro-Trump rioters who hit the US Capitol last week.
The actor compared to Nazi Germany and accusing President Donald Trump of an attempted coup.
In a video posted on social media, Schwarzenegger said that Trump would be the worst president in the United States history. He asked the people of America to stand united and support President-Elect Joe Biden.
Former California Governor released a seven-and-a-half minute video where he described the US Capitol’s attack as Kristallnacht, or the Night from 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 above 30 million views.
The actor said that the mob did not just break the Capitol windows, “they shattered the ideas we took for granted. They did not just break down the doors of the building that house American democracy. They defeated 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 Second World War participation.
Former governor and actor also shared his father’s personal experience 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 the emotional pain of what they saw and did,” he said. He stated, “I do believe that we must be conscious of the dire consequences of selfishness and cynicism.”
Schwarzenegger pushed Trump for misleading the people with lies in his attempt to overturn the election results. “My father and neighbors were also misled with such lies, and I know where such myths lead,” he said.
He also accused elected leaders 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 on the president,” adding that “they’re complicit with those who carried the flag of self-righteous insurrection into the Capitol.”
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.”
