Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) said there is an underlying anger in the United States stirring people toward hate.
While speaking with CNN’s Dana Bash, Schwarzenegger said he is concerned that the causes of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot are not being discussed.
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“The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the insurrection was that this is very dangerous,” Schwarzenegger said. “It is a wake-up call to let people know you have to take this seriously. Not just like — let’s get those right-wingers, put them in jail. No. This is much more than that. What creates something like that? And sadly, I have to say, no one really has covered it well — the insurrection. Because they only said what they did was wrong. And they have to go to jail, and we have to punish them and all this stuff. But no one really has gotten into why it was this way.”
Schwarzenegger said he is concerned about growing antisemitism and hate in the U.S. and around the world. He pointed to his own family history as an example from the past.
“My father, and so many other millions of men, were sucked into a hate system through lies and deceit. And so, we have seen where that leads,” Schwarzenegger said of his father, who was a Nazi.
The actor and former governor was born in Austria in 1957 and moved to the U.S. in 1968. In a video posted to Facebook in March, Schwarzenegger mentioned how his father, Gustav Schwarzenegger, was involved with the Nazis during World War II and warned against “the easy path of hate.”
“I’ve seen firsthand how broken this man was,” Schwarzenegger said of his father. “The kinds of atrocities that happened. How many millions of people had to die, and then they ended up losers … in the Confederacy, losers, as they all have. This just doesn’t work. I mean, let’s just go and get along. And love is more powerful than hate.”
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Schwarzenegger also said he believes former President Donald Trump will not win the 2024 presidential election.
Prior to sitting down with Bash, Schwarzenegger spoke against antisemitism and hate at a forum held at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
