After Wednesday’s insurrectionist Capitol riot, celebrities and commentators have used their public platforms to condemn the violence and shame exiting President Donald Trump for enabling a fascist movement. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former governor of California and actual Republican, took to YouTube and Twitter on Sunday, January 10 to deliver a message of unity in a nearly eight-minute video titled, “Governor Schwarzenegger’s Message Following This Week’s Attack on the Capitol.†In the video, Schwarzenegger speaks candidly about his childhood in postwar Austria, describing how he was surrounded by broken, guilty men who fought for the Nazis, who perpetuated cycles of domestic violence for years after World War II. He compares the Wednesday siege of the Capitol to Kristallnacht, because “it all started with lies and lies and lies and intolerance.†Schwarzenegger expresses disappointment in fellow members of the Republican Party who continue to support Donald Trump, saying, “John F. Kennedy wrote a book called Profiles in Courage. A number of members of my own party because of their own spinelessness would never see their names in such a book.†Over a soundtrack of cinematically rousing music, Schwarzenegger asks the nation to heal by wishing President-elect Joe Biden success, and by drawing a massive barbarian sword and wielding it … as a metaphor, that is. For democracy, we think.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Draws His Sword and Condemns Insurrection in Video Address
