Actor and former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger has strongly denounced President Donald Trump's attempts at overturning the election result, writing, “There is no question about who won the presidential election and continuing this charade is stupid, crazy, and evil.”
In a searing op-ed for The Economist, Schwarzenegger, who was born in Austria, wrote how he is "deeply concerned" for America, a country he "fell for long before I was lucky enough to live here".
Describing the postwar, famine-struck Austria he grew up in, Schwarzenegger drew comparisons to contemporary American society and his recovering homeland, where "I was surrounded by broken men drinking away their guilt over their participation in the most evil regime in history."
"I grew up in the ruins of a country that gave up on democracy and faced the consequences," he wrote. "You may think I’m being overly sensitive about this – but when you’ve lived through the aftermath as I did, trust me, you worry."
The former governor continued, clarifying that although he didn't see America as being "capable of those depths of evil" as was done during WWII, but cautioned strongly against "the dire consequences of choosing selfishness and cynicism over service and hope".
He went on to slam Trump's recent attempt to pressure Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, to “find 11,780 votes” that could overturn the election results, praising Raffensperger as "a true hero for standing up to this un-American bulls**t".
Schwarzenegger also drew parallels to one of his Terminator films, specifically Judgement Day (1991), noting that the day electoral college votes are counted, 6 January, will be "Judgement Day for a lot of politicians".
"Will they choose to side with the voters, or will they choose to side with their party and their selfish president?" Schwarzenegger asked.
"For those in my party considering standing up against the voters on January 6th, know this: our grandchildren will know your names only as the villains who fought against the great American experiment and the will of the voters. You will live in infamy," he wrote before pleading with members of the Republican party to "step back from the partisan battlefield and accept the results of the election".
“We must never put our party above the great American experiment,” he continued. "We must never forget that we are Americans first. We must never forget that any power our politicians have comes from the voters, and they have spoken."
