Arnold Schwarzenegger drops big endorsement in 2024 presidential race

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Terminator star and former Republican governor of California, endorsed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris on Wednesday.  © Ivan Apfel / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

The former bodybuilder (77) said that while he had issues with both major parties, Trump's rhetoric calling the US "a trash can for the world" had made him "furious."

With just days until the November 5 election, Schwarzenegger becomes the latest of dozens of prominent former Republican officials – including former vice president Dick Cheney – to endorse the Democratic candidate for president over Trump.

"To someone like me who talks to people all over the world and still knows America is the shining city on a hill, calling America... a trash can for the world is so unpatriotic, it makes me furious," said the actor.

"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," he wrote on X.

Since leaving office in 2011 after two terms as the governor of the most populous US state, Schwarzenegger has championed environmental issues, small businesses, and immigration reform.

Kamala Harris has earned endorsements from a number of prominent Hollywood stars amid her 2024 presidential bid.  © TASOS KATOPODIS / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

After the January 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, Schwarzenegger likened the attack to the Nazi Kristallnacht riots in his native Austria and called the Republican a "failed leader" who "will go down in history as the worst president ever."

On Wednesday, he said doesn't "like either party right now."

"My Republicans have forgotten the beauty of the free market, driven up deficits, and rejected election results," he said.

"Democrats aren't any better at dealing with deficits, and I worry about their local policies hurting our cities with increased crime."

However, a vote for Trump would "just be four more years of bulls**t with no results that makes us angrier and angrier, more divided, and more hateful," he said.

"Vote this week," he implored. "Turn the page and put this junk behind us."

Schwarzenegger joins a number of Hollywood stars who have backed Harris, including George Clooney, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and more.