Arnold Schwarzenegger delivered a forceful message to Nazi ideologues after he was confronted on CNN on Sunday about his own family ties to Hitler’s regime.
The 78-year-old former California governor—whose father was a member of the Nazi Party—reflected on his family’s history during State of the Union.
Host Jake Tapper raised the Schwarzengger’s family past while discussing recent controversies involving Nazi symbols and rhetoric, including Senate hopeful Graham Platner’s tattoo of a Nazi symbol, Trump aide Paul Ingrassia’s pro-Nazi texts and the leaked Young Republicans group chat.
“The reason I bring [these controversies] up is because you have spoken so movingly in the past about your father‘s membership in the Nazi Party—denouncing it. What is your message to anybody in politics today embracing or praising Nazis or Hitler in any way?” Tapper said.
Schwarzenegger was silent for a moment before admitting he didn’t “know anything” about the specific scandals. But he had a clear message to any admirers of the Third Reich.
“I can just tell you one thing,” he said. “Anyone that idolizes Nazis, it‘s bad news. Because we have been there before, and we have seen the outcome.
“There are no winners, okay? It‘s that simple. And I think that‘s not the direction we want to go.”
Schwarzenegger’s father, Gustav, was an active member of the Nazi party until he was wounded in the Battle of Leningrad in 1943. His family’s past was a major talking point when the former bodybuilder was elected in 2003 to lead the state of California.
Schwarzenegger went on to describe a long list of issues immediately facing the US, suggesting that real patriots would tackle those before looking toward neo-Nazism.
“What we want to do is we want to make sure that both of the parties—there‘s no matter if you‘re Democrat or Republican—get together and start figuring out what is best for the people of America,” he concluded.
Schwarzenegger’s message came after Platner, a Democrat running to unseat six-term Republican Susan Collins, came under fire after photos surfaced showing a tattoo of a Nazi symbol on his arm. He said he wasn’t aware of any Nazi meaning when he got the ink nearly two decades ago while out drinking with other Marines in Croatia.
Also last week, Ingrassia, a Trump aide, was forced to withdraw his nomination for a top federal post after leaked text messages revealed him describing himself as having a “Nazi streak.”
And in a separate controversy, a Young Republicans group chat was leaked, exposing members sharing racist memes and pro-Nazi remarks.
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