Arnold Schwarzenegger shared words of hope on Sunday after the deadly mob on the United States Capitol, while also denouncing President Donald Trump and the “weakness” of his Republican colleagues.
Schwarzenegger, an actor and former governor of the California Republican Party, drew parallels with his education in post-World War II Austria, while discussing Wednesday’s pro-Trump riot in the U.S. Capitol building.
In a video statement released on Sunday, he likened the Washington, DC, rebellion to Kristallnacht – the 1938 attack by the Nazis in Germany that began destroying Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues as thousands were arrested in concentration camps – calling -the “broken glass day here in America. “
“The broken glass was in the windows of the United States Capitol,” said Schwarzenegger. “But the crowd didn’t just break the Capitol windows, it destroyed ideas that we thought were right. Not only did they break down the doors of the building that housed American democracy, they trampled on the very principles on which our country was founded. “
Schwarzenegger said that as a child he saw broken men who drank from their guilt for participating in the most “wicked regime” in history, revealing that his father used to get drunk and beat him and his mother.
“President Trump sought to overturn the results of an election and a fair election,” said Schwarzenegger. “He sought a coup by deceiving people with lies. My father and neighbors were also deceived with lies. “
Trump is a failed leader who will soon become irrelevant, Schwarzenegger said. He then turned against the elected officials who empowered Trump and referred to President John F. Kennedy’s book, “Profiles in Courage”.
“Several members of my own party, because of their own weakness, would never see their names in such a book, I guarantee you,” said Schwarzenegger. “They are complacent with those who carried the flag of the hypocritical insurrection on Capitol Hill.”
Public officials must put the country above the party and work for the people, he said. He also offered his support to President-elect Joe Biden shortly before drawing a sword from his 1982 film, “Conan the Barbarian”.
Schwarzenegger used the sword as a metaphor to offer hope to Americans after the Capitol riots, which were linked to five deaths. He explained that swords get stronger after being tempered repeatedly, as the steel is kept on fire and then dipped in cold water repeatedly.
American democracy has been tempered, he said.
“I believe that as shaken as the events of the last few days are, we will come out stronger because we now understand what can be lost,” said Schwarzenegger. “We need reforms, of course, so that it never happens again. We need to hold the people who brought us to this unforgivable point responsible. And we need to look beyond ourselves, our party differences and put our democracy first. “
