Arnold Schwarzeneggar, State of California former Gov.
Several times in recent weeks, I have written about the ongoing U.S. presidential elections. On Tuesday, Americans who have not yet voted, will go to the polls as they choose the person to succeed Joe Biden in the White House on January 20, 2025. Former President, Donald Trump, or current Vice President, Kamala Harris, will be sworn in on that date as the 47th President of the United States.
Several people have repeatedly asked me why I write so much about the elections in America with all the problems in Nigeria.
I want to reiterate that while it is only American citizens who can vote in the ongoing elections, the result of their votes will, willy nilly, affect everybody in the world, including Nigerians, in a most fundamental manner.
Many have attacked me for stating that a man with the obvious character defects of Donald Trump should not be elected President of the United States of America again. Some have stated that I do not understand American politics. Some others have said that I am just a busy body who watches too much CNN. There are yet a group that Insists that I just hate Donald Trump without any good reason.
There is this nephew of mine who lives in the U.S. and is an American citizen. I love the young man from head to toe and otherwise have a great relationship with him. I have recently become worried about the almost violent manner in which my nephew reacts each time I publish something uncomplimentary of Donald Trump. His attachment to Trump is almost cult-like. There are many like him.
Have I been unfair to Donald Trump? I have had to read, over again, everything I have written about Donald Trump, to be sure that my critics are not correct. I was in this frame of mind, when a few days ago, I read a statement issued by the great actor of the movie, “Terminator”, Arnold Schwarzeneggar, who for several years was a reputed Republican Governor of California, America’s biggest State. If California was a country, it would be the world’s fifth largest economy.
I am not sure that any rational person will accuse Arnold Schwarzeneggar of not understanding American politics. I doubt that anyone will say that Arnold Schwarzeneggar, who belongs to the same political party as Donald Trump, is a busy body who watches too much CNN. How come Schwarzeneggar is saying the same things I have written in Saturday Breakfast?
I have taken liberty to publish Arnold Schwarzeneggar’s statement hereunder, unedited, so you can make up your mind. Please read on:
I don’t really do endorsements. I’m not shy about sharing my views, but I hate politics and don’t trust most politicians.
I also understand that people want to hear from me because I am not just a celebrity, I am a former Republican Governor.
My time as Governor taught me to love policy and ignore politics. I’m proud of the work I did to help clean up our air, create jobs, balance the budget, make the biggest infrastructure investment in State history, and take power from the politicians and give it back to the people when it comes to our redistricting process and our primaries in California.
That’s policy. It requires working with the other side, not insulting them to win your next election, and I know it isn’t sexy to most people, but I love it when I can help make people’s lives better with policies, like I still do through my institute at USC, where we fight for clean air and stripping the power from the politicians who rig the system against the people.
Let me be honest with you: I don’t like either party right now. My Republicans have forgotten the beauty of the free market, driven up deficits, and rejected election results. Democrats aren’t any better at dealing with deficits, and I worry about their local policies hurting our cities with increased crime.
It is probably not a surprise that I hate politics more than ever, which, if you are a normal person who isn’t addicted to this crap, you probably understand.
I want to tune out.
But I can’t. Because rejecting the results of an election is as un-American as it gets. 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 is a trash can for the world is so unpatriotic, it makes me furious.
And 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.
I’m sharing it with all of you because I think there are a lot of you who feel like I do. You don’t recognise our country. And you are right to be furious.
For decades, we’ve talked about the national debt. For decades, we’ve talked about comprehensive immigration reform that secures the border while fixing our broken immigration system. And Washington does nothing.
The problems just keep rolling, and we all keep getting angrier, because the only people that benefit from problems aren’t you, the people. The only people that benefit from this crap are the politicians who prefer having talking points to win elections to the public service that will make Americans’ lives better.
It is a just game to them. But it is life for my fellow Americans. We should be pissed!
But a candidate who won’t respect your vote unless it is for him, a candidate who will send his followers to storm the Capitol while he watches with a Diet Coke, a candidate who has shown no ability to work to pass any policy besides a tax cut that helped his donors and other rich people like me but helped no one else, a candidate who thinks Americans who disagree with him are the bigger enemies than China, Russia, or North Korea – that won’t solve our problems.
It will just be four more years of bullshit with no results that make us angrier and angrier, more divided, and more hateful.
We need to close the door on this chapter of American history, and I know that former President Trump won’t do that. He will divide, he will insult, he will find new ways to be more un-American than he already has been, and we, the people, will get nothing but more anger.
That’s enough reason for me to share my vote with all of you. I want to move forward as a country, and even though I have plenty of disagreements with their platform, I think the only way to do that is with Harris and Walz.
Vote this week. Turn the page and put this junk behind us.
And even if you disagree with me, vote, because that’s what we do as Americans. vote.org.///
What do you think?
See you next week.
