Former GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger endorses Harris

With less than a week to go until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris has received another endorsement from a Republican former elected official. But the one she received on Wednesday may be the only one from a former Mr. Universe title-holder.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former Republican governor of California, said that he will be voting for Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz this week.

In a lengthy post on social media on Wednesday, Schwarzenegger, a professional bodybuilder-turned-actor-turned-politician, explained why he’s become the latest Republican to endorse the Democratic vice president over his party’s nominee, former President Donald Trump.

“[A] candidate who won’t respect your vote unless it is for him, a candidate who will send his followers to storm the Capitol while he watches with a Diet Coke, a candidate who has shown no ability to work to pass any policy besides a tax cut that helped his donors and other rich people like me but helped no one else, a candidate who thinks Americans who disagree with him are the bigger enemies than China, Russia, or North Korea – that won’t solve our problems. It will just be four more years of b******* with no results that makes us angrier and angrier, more divided, and more hateful.

“We need to close the door on this chapter of American history, and I know that former President Trump won’t do that,” he continued. “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.”

“That’s enough reason for me to share my vote with all of you,” Schwarzenegger added. “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.”

The “Kindergarten Cop” star, who chaired the the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports under George H.W. Bush before winning a special recall election in 2003 to replace then-California Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, explained that he doesn’t “really do endorsements.”

“I’m not shy about sharing my views, but I hate politics and don’t trust most politicians,” he said, before adding: “I also understand that people want to hear from me because I am not just a celebrity, I am a former Republican Governor.”

Schwarzenegger, widely considered a moderate Republican, touted bipartisan accomplishments during his time in the California Governor’s Mansion, which he said should be the norm in American politics.

“That’s policy. It requires working with the other side, not insulting them to win your next election, and I know it isn’t sexy to most people, but I love it when I can help make people’s lives better with policies,” he said, before adding that he’s not a fan of the current state of either political party.

“Let me be honest with you: I don’t like either party right now,” Schwarzenegger explained. “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. It is probably not a surprise that I hate politics more than ever, which, if you are a normal person who isn’t addicted to this crap, you probably understand.”

“I want to tune out. But I can’t,” he continued. “Because rejecting the results of an election is as un-American as it gets. 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 is a trash can for the world is so unpatriotic, it makes me furious. And 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.”

Schwarzenegger and Trump feuded numerous times over the years — and not necessarily because the actor succeeded the businessman as host of “The Celebrity Apprentice,” though Trump, as president, did jab at Schwarzenegger over his departure from the show, charging in a social media post that he was “fired by his bad (pathetic) ratings.”

In the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump’s supporters, Schwarzenegger called him a “failed leader” who “will go down in history as the worst President ever.”

The Harris campaign has prioritized outreach to Republican voters who may be disenchanted with Trump, particularly those who supported former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley in the 2024 GOP primary. Harris has campaigned alongside a number of Republican former officials, including former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger.

Schwarzenegger’s ex-wife, former California first lady Maria Shriver, recently moderated a conversation between Harris and Cheney in Michigan and has been vocal in her support for the vice president.