Arnold Schwarzenegger remembers post-Nazi Austria in a call for unity after Capitol riot

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was born into a post-war Austria reckoning with the fallout from Nazi control, delivered a warning to Americans on Sunday morning, comparing the riots at the U.S. Capitol this week to the rise of violent antisemitism in Europe and calling on Americans to unify behind President-elect Joe Biden.

“I grew up in the ruins of a country that suffered the loss of its democracy,” he said. “I was surrounded by broken men drinking away their guilt over their participation in the most evil regime in history. Not all of them were rabid antisemites or Nazis, many just went along, step by step down the road. They were the people next door.”

In the roughly eight-minute long video shared on Twitter, Schwarzenegger, a Republican, said the violent attempt to overturn a fair and free election at the Capitol on Wednesday echoed the 1938 night of broken glass in Europe, or Kristallnacht, a night of rampage against Jews that many consider to mark the start of the Holocaust.

“Wednesday was the day of broken glass right here in the United States. The broken glass was in the windows of the United States Capitol. But the mob did not just shatter the windows of the Capitol, they shattered the ideals we took for granted,” he said. “They didn’t just break down the doors of the building that housed the American democracy, they trampled the very principles on which our country was founded.”

Schwarzenegger, who served as California’s most recent Republican governor from 2003 to 2011, for years has condemned President Donald Trump. In 2017, following the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Schwarzenegger strongly denounced Trump’s suggestion that there were good people on both sides of the demonstrations.

Since then, Schwarzenegger has been one of many prominent California Republicans calling on the state party to move away from Trump.

On Sunday, Schwarzenegger shared personal anecdotes from his childhood, where he saw his family and neighbors suffer through the realities of World War II. His father used to get drunk and beat his family, he said, and he knew the men next door were doing the same to their families.

“They were in physical pain from the shrapnel in their bodies, and in emotional pain from what they saw, what did it all started with lies and lies and lies, and intolerance,” he said. “I do believe that we must be aware of the dire consequences of selfishness and cynicism.”

President Trump is a “failed leader,” Schwarzenegger said, and will go down as the worst president in history.

“President Trump sought to overturn the results of an election and, a fair election. He sought a coup by misleading people with lies. My father and our neighbors were misled also with lies. And I know where such lies lead,” the former governor said.

With nearly 10 days left in his presidency, Trump will soon be irrelevant, Schwarzenegger said, but his enablers, including those in the Republican party, need to be held responsible.

“They’re complicit with those who carried the flag of self-righteous insurrection into the Capitol,” he said.

Californians on both sides of the aisle applauded Schwarzenegger for his powerful message. Current California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, shared the video and thanked his predecessor. So did former Gov. Jerry Brown.

Rob Stutzman, a longtime California GOP strategist who served as Scharzenegger’s deputy chief of staff, said his message was very personal and speaks to how compelling the current moment is in American politics.

“I think there is a nationalist base to the Republican party that will not heed his calls, but I think there is genuinely a crowd, that is prone to becoming part of the mob, that I think will listen and consider what he’s talking about,” he said. “I do think there’s Americans that are checking themselves and asking themselves some of the questions about, ‘where are the lines drawn?’ and ‘what is happening?’.”

Schwarzenegger ended with a message of hope, and a call for Americans to support Biden.

“No matter what your political affiliation is, I ask you to join me in saying to President-elect Biden.... ‘we wish you great success as our president. If you succeed, our nation succeeds. We support you with all our hearts as you seek to bring us together.,” he said.

“And to those who think they can overturn the United States Constitution, know this: you will never win.”

This story was originally published January 10, 2021 at 3:10 PM with the headline "Arnold Schwarzenegger remembers post-Nazi Austria in a call for unity after Capitol riot."