Arnold Schwarzenegger lays into Donald Trump in blunt video
Schwarzenegger speaks at the Arnold Classic Sports Festival, 2016 (Photo by Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images)
Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger took to the camera to criticize President Trump for his mixed response towards recent white supremacist violence.
In a video posted yesterday afternoon (August 17), the actor and politician was clear in his message to the President, saying: “There are not two sides to hatred. There are not two sides to bigotry.
“If you choose to march with a flag that symbolizes the slaughter of millions of people, there are not two sides.”
Trump has issued multiple statements in regards to the violence in Charlottesville and has been widely criticised for failing to specifically condemn the neo-Nazis present until two days after the incident.
The President then contradicted this response a day later, reiterating his initial comments of violence coming from ‘many sides’ and claiming that an ‘alt-left’ ought to take partial responsibility.
In a press conference, Trump said: “You had a group on one side, and you had a group on the other.”
President Trump makes his second statement about the violence in Charlottesville (Photo by Chris Kleponis-Pool/Getty Images)
Schwarzenegger has been a reformed ally of the LGBT community within the last decade, spectacularly responding to fans who criticised his rainbow profile photo during pride.
The former governor has also criticised fellow Republican politicians over anti-LGBT ‘religious freedom’ laws.
In the three-minute video, Schwarzenegger also called for the President to denounce any support from the white supremacist groups and to formally criticise the violence.
Holding a bobble-head of the President, Schwarzenegger said: “as president of this great country, you have a moral responsibility to send an unequivocal message that you won’t stand for hate and racism.”
The former California governor also spoke bluntly to white supremacists and supporters of the Confederacy saying: “your heroes are losers. You are supporting a lost cause.”
The Confederate flag has long been seen as a racist symbol due to its association with slavery.
Earlier this week, a Fox News pundit claimed that the rainbow flag was similarly offensive, saying that both flags sent the message “that certain people groups are not welcome here.”
Watch Schwarzenegger’s full video:
.@Schwarzenegger has a blunt message for Nazis. pic.twitter.com/HAbnejahtl
— ATTN: (@attn) August 17, 2017
