CNN —
Former Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Wednesday that he will vote for Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz in a rare endorsement.
“For someone like me who speaks to people all over the world and still knows that America is a shining city on a hill, calling America a trash can for the world is so unpatriotic and infuriating. And before I’m a Republican, I’ll always be an American. That’s why I’m voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz this week,” Schwarzenegger said in a post to X. Ta.
The famous actor and longtime Republican criticized Donald Trump, saying the former president’s second term would make people “more angry, more divided, more hateful.”
“He will find new ways to divide, insult and be even more un-American than ever, and our people will only feel even more outraged,” Schwarzenegger said. Last week, President Trump slammed illegal immigrants at a campaign rally in Arizona, saying the United States is “a trash can for the world.”
Schwarzenegger has publicly criticized the former president in recent years. In response to the riots on January 6, 2021, Schwarzenegger said that Trump will be remembered as the worst president in American history and called for unity among Americans.
Last year, after Schwarzenegger emerged as the clear front-runner for the Republican nomination, he spoke with CNN’s Dana Bash and said the Republican Party had dug itself a hole with him as its leader. , predicted that Trump would lose the 2024 election.
“It’s sad to see that. They couldn’t find new talent with new faces, rational, smart, smart people who could lead this country in the Republican way. told Bash.
The feud between the two dates back to Trump’s first term, after Schwarzenegger took over the former president’s prized show “The Celebrity Apprentice” in 2015. In 2017, Trump mocked the low ratings of a show called “The New Celebrity Apprentice,” to which Schwarzenegger responded: “Donald, I have a great idea. Would you like to change jobs?” Schwarzenegger cut ties with the show in 2017.
“I want to move forward as a country, and there are many disagreements about our platform, but the only way to do that is with Harris and Walz,” Schwarzenegger said in a post Wednesday. I think it’s important to cooperate with them,” he added.
Meanwhile, former astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin endorsed Trump on Wednesday.
Aldrin, the last survivor of NASA’s Apollo 11 mission and the second person to walk on the moon, praised President Trump’s first term in a statement announcing his support, especially the former president’s He referred to past space policy.
The 94-year-old said he has “watched government efforts in space rise and fall, sometimes let down by fluctuating dynamics.” However, under the first Trump administration, I was impressed to see how human space exploration was valued and once again became an important policy issue. Under President Trump’s first term, America saw a resurgence of interest in space. ”
In 2018, former astronauts praised the Trump administration’s creation of the Space Force, which became a modern military service when President Trump signed it into law the following year.
In a statement Wednesday, Aldrin added: “I am enthused and excited about the significant advances in the private sector space economy, led by visionaries like Elon Musk. These are my concerns and priorities for U.S. policy. It’s a tangible outcome that matches.”
“For me, for the future of this country, I believe it is in the best interest of the country to vote for Donald J. Trump to address the enormous challenges and the proven policy results listed above,” he said. said.
CNN’s Sandra Gonzalez contributed to this report.
