With Conan Sword in Hand, Arnold Issues Moving Video

Former Calif. governor delivers emotional speech about attack on US Capitol
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 11, 2021 6:14 AM CST

While arrests continue in the aftermath of last week's deadly assault on the US Capitol, a big name is weighing in. With the California and American flags behind him and patriotic-sounding music scoring his words, Arnold Schwarzenegger posted a nearly eight-minute video of himself Sunday to deliver what CBS News calls a "passionate response" to last week's events. Starting off with painful memories of his post WWII-boyhood in Austria—including how his father would often come home drunk and abusive, haunted by his participation in the war—Schwarzenegger notes how growing up in Europe he's witnessed "firsthand how things can spin out of control," per the New York Times. He also mentions 1938's Kristallnacht, aka the "Night of Broken Glass," when Nazi sympathizers carried out a deadly rampage in Jewish neighborhoods.

"Wednesday was the day of broken glass right here in the United States," the ex-California governor says in the video, per NPR. "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. They did not just break down the doors of the building that housed American democracy. They trampled the very principles on which our country was founded." Schwarzenegger, a Republican, also calls President Trump a "failed leader" and "the worst president ever" and calls for healing and accountability for the attack. "To those who think they can overturn the United States Constitution, know this: You will never win," he notes. More of the video, which had more than 30 million views as of Monday, here—including a poignant reference to Schwarzenegger's sword from Conan the Barbarian. (More Arnold Schwarzenegger stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X