US presidential elections are only mere days away. US Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are in a tight race for the White House and have been busy doing the rounds of the multiple swing states that could decide the electoral battle.
While the candidates have been busy shoring up support, endorsements are coming in. Harris has received an unlikely endorsement from the other side of the aisle.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, a former Republican governor, took to social media platform X to announce his support for the Democratic candidate.
“I don’t really do endorsements. I’m not shy about sharing my views, but I hate politics and don’t trust most politicians.I also understand that people want to hear from me because I am not just a celebrity, I am a former Republican Governor,” wrote Schwarzenegger.
The Hollywood superstar, known famously for his role as the Terminator, served as the 38th governor of California from 2003 to 2011.
He wrote further: “My time as Governor taught me to love policy and ignore politics. I’m proud of the work I did to help clean up our air, create jobs, balance the budget, make the biggest infrastructure investment in state history, and take power from the politicians and give it back to the people when it comes to our redistricting process and our primaries in California.
That’s policy. It requires working with the other side, not insulting them, to win your next election, and I know it isn’t s*xy to most people, but I love it when I can help make people’s lives better with policies, like I still do through my institute at USC, where we fight for clean air and stripping the power from the politicians who rig the system against the people.”
The actor further admitted his desire to tune out the noise and that he hates politics. And yet, he admitted, he couldn’t tune out the noise as much as he wished to.
“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,” wrote Schwarzenegger. “I’m sharing it with all of you because I think there are a lot of you who feel like I do. You don’t recognise our country. And you are right to be furious. For decades, we’ve talked about the national debt. For decades, we’ve talked about comprehensive immigration reform that secures the border while fixing our broken immigration system. And Washington does nothing.”
Schwarzenegger also took digs at Trump’s behaviour and his role in inciting the January 6 insurrection.
“But 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,” wrote the superstar.
He went on to urge his followers to turn the page on the recent political history of the country, bereft of mutual understanding and fuelled by hatred.
“I know that former President Trump won’t do that. 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,” he wrote.“That’s enough reason for me to share my vote with all of you. 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.”
The elections are scheduled to take place on November 5 with rippling consequences for the entire world.
