Politics

Arnold Schwarzenegger Draws Parallels Between The Capitol Riot & Nazi Attacks In Powerful Speech

"President Trump sought to overturn the results of an election -- and of a fair election. He sought a coup by misleading people with lies."

by Michelle Rennex  11 January 2021
arnold schwarzenegger capitol riot nazi speech

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Late last night, movie star and former Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, released a powerful video denouncing the right-wing attack on the United States Capitol.

The response comes after Donald Trump supporters broke into the US Capitol in a violent attempted coup last week. Started in protest of the presidential election results, which were fuelled by Trump’s constant claims of “voter fraud”, the Republican-led domestic terrorist attack resulted in six deaths and many more injuries.

But despite Schwarzenegger being a Republican himself, the former Governor couldn’t help but notice the similarities between Nazi Germany and the events that took place in Washington, DC last week.

“I grew up in Austria. I’m very aware of Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass,” Schwarzenegger started his seven minute-long speech. “It was a night of rampage against the Jews carried out in 1938 by the Nazi equivalent of the Proud Boys. Wednesday was the Day of Broken Glass right here in the United States.”

“The broken glass was in the windows of the United States Capitol. But the mob did not just shatter the windows of the Capitol. They shattered the ideas we took for granted,” he continued.

“They did not just break down the doors of the building that housed American democracy. They trampled the very principles on which our country was founded.”

Reflecting on his childhood, growing up in Austria right after WWII in “the ruins of a country that suffered the loss of its democracy”, Schwarzenegger shared his personal experience with how “lies and intolerance” can lead to things spinning “out of control”.

“Growing up, I was surrounded by broken men drinking away their guilt over their participation in the most evil regime in history. Not all of them were rabid anti-Semites or Nazis. Many just went along, step by step, down the road,” the actor recounted.

“They were in physical pain from the shrapnel in their bodies and in emotional pain for what they saw or did. It all started with lies, and lies, and lies, and intolerance. So, being from Europe, I’ve seen first-hand how things can spin out of control.”

Turning his attention to Trump, Schwarzenegger then drew a direct comparison to the election misinformation spread by the President to the lies told to Nazis during WWII.

“President Trump sought to overturn the results of an election — and of a fair election. He sought a coup by misleading people with lies,” the former governor continued. “My father and our neighbours were misled also with lies, and I know where such lies lead.”

Schwarzenegger also called Trump a “failed leader” who will “go down in history as the worst president ever”, while denouncing the elected Republican officials who have “enabled [Trump’s] lies and treachery” over the last four years.

“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,” he said. “They’re complicit with those who carried the flag of self-righteous insurrection into the Capitol.”

“We need to hold accountable the people that brought us to this unforgivable point. We need to look past ourselves, our parties, and disagreements and put our democracy first,” the former governor continued. “And we need to heal, together from the drama of what has just happened. We need to heal, not just as Republicans or as Democrats, but as Americans.

To end his powerful speech, Arnold Schwarzenegger called for America to support President-elect Joe Biden, regardless of their political affiliations, in the name of democracy and unity, before turning his sights onto America’s domestic terrorists.

“To those who think they can overturn the United States Constitution, know this: You will never win.”