Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of America’s favorite action heroes – or at least he used to be.
The former California Governor has drifted left faster than anyone expected, but his latest video message tops it all for self-righteous exaggeration and progressive pomp.
In a seven-minute video message posted on his Twitter, Schwarzenegger sounded off about the riots that broke out last week at the Capitol, slamming Trump as “the worst President ever” and comparing the Proud Boys to the Nazis who smashed thousands of Jewish shops and burned hundreds of synagogues on Kristallnacht (“the night of broken glass”) in November, 1938 in Germany.
Kristallnacht is often seen as a direct precursor to the genocide and war fever that gripped Nazi Germany soon after.
Schwarzenegger Actually Said This…
Calling all Republicans who questioned the election “spineless” cowards who will be forgotten by history, Schwarzenegger – who was born two years after World War II ended in 1947 – talked about how he’s seen where today’s situation can lead.
“I grew up in Austria. I’m very aware of Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass. It was a night of rampage against the Jews carried out in 1938 by the Nazi equivalent of the Proud Boys. Wednesday was the Day of Broken Glass right here in the United States,” he said.
The video goes on to say that Trump supporters who walked and climbed their way into the Capitol last week “trampled the very principles on which our country was founded.”
‘Kristallnacht’…Really?
The storming of the Capitol on Wednesday was certainly tragic. It resulted in five deaths, including the shooting of an unarmed Trump supporter and the death of a police officer who was struck on the head by a fire extinguisher. It also did not move the nation any closer to the goals of the MAGA movement.
But to compare it to Kristallnacht to scare and make people sad is a bit much. Kristallnacht in November, 1949 happened across Germany when around 300 synagogues and 7,000 Jewish-owned businesses were smashed, burned and vandalized while fire crews and police did nothing.
The next day 30,000 Jews were arrested for their ethnicity and sent off to work camps and death camps where many died.
The German authorities put out a release soon after saying Jewish people were the ones at fault for the night of destruction and fined the Jewish community a massive amount of money to pay back the damage, voiding all insurance payouts to them as well.
Does that sound comparable to what happened last week?
It’s Not the First Time
Schwarzenegger may be a centrist Republican, but his comments are far from the first time that those who hate Trump have gone off their rocker with Nazi references. Three months ago CNN‘s host Christiane Amanpour compared Trump to the Nazis.
To be fair, Schwarzenegger’s video wasn’t all bad and he made some good points about how people need to come together, using Conan’s sword as a metaphor for democracy and national strength.
“This is Conan’s sword. And here is the thing about swords – the more you temper it, the stronger it becomes. Our democracy is like the steel of a sword. It has been tempered by wars, injustices and insurrections. I believe as shaken as we are by events in recent days, we will come out stronger because we now understand what can be lost,” he said.
As for President Trump? Schwarzenegger had nothing good to say, calling him “a failed leader” who “will soon be as irrelevant as an old tweet.”
Watch the video for yourself. What do you think? Is Schwarzenegger on the right track here or is he off base?
My message to my fellow Americans and friends around the world following this week's attack on the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/blOy35LWJ5
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) January 10, 2021
