Arnold Schwarzenegger makes rare endorsement for Kamala Harris

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former Republican governor of California, said he will be voting for Kamala Harris in a rare endorsement.

The actor wrote a lengthy post on X explaining his reasons for backing the Democrat candidate despite the fact he doesn’t “really do endorsements” and doesn’t “trust most politicians”.

“I will always be an American before I am a Republican,” he wrote. “That’s why, this week, I am voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. 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.”

He took aim at Donald Trump, writing: “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 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.”

He continued: “It will just be four more years of bullshit 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.”

“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.”

This isn’t the first time that Schwarzenegger has spoken out against Trump.

Their feud harks back to Trump’s first term in office, when Schwarzenegger took over the former president’s prized show, The Celebrity Apprentice. Trump mocked the show for low ratings and Schwarzenegger responded: “Hey Donald, I have a great idea. Why don’t we switch jobs?”

Following the January 6 insurrection, Schwarzenegger said Trump would “go down in history as the worst president ever.”

Elsewhere, Leonardo DiCaprio and Bad Bunny recently endorsed Harris, with the multi award-winning Puerto Rican rapper taking offence online to Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally, where comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage.”

On the other side of the political line, retired astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, the last surviving member of NASA’s Apollo 11 mission and the second person to walk on the moon, endorsed Trump this week.

In a statement, Aldrin, 94, praised Trump’s first term: “Under President Trump’s first term, America saw a revitalized interest in space.”

He added: “I have been enthused and excited by the great advancements in the private sector space economy, led by visionaries like Elon Musk. These are concrete accomplishments that align with my concerns and America’s policy priorities.”

“For me, for the future of our Nation, to meet enormous challenges, and for the proven policy accomplishments above, I believe the nation is best served by voting for Donald J. Trump,” he said.