Arnold Schwarzenegger defended his Republican identity during a late-night interview this week.
The 79-year-old former California governor appeared on Wednesday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, where host Jimmy Kimmel pressed him on whether he still belongs to the GOP after recent Democratic midterm gains. “Yeah, I’m a Republican, absolutely,” Schwarzenegger replied. “A traditional Republican is someone that admires the Republican Party for having freed the slaves.”
Kimmel interjected that the modern party “don’t get credit for that anymore,” but Schwarzenegger stood firm on historical roots. “This is the history. This is what I’m about. Someone that has given those slaves American citizenship and given them the rights to vote,” he said.
Kimmel pushed back harder, asking: “This sounds like all the opposite things that the Republican Party stands for now though, doesn’t it?” Schwarzenegger refused to budge. “Yeah, but it doesn’t mean I have to change my philosophy,” he countered.
The Terminator star anchored his political identity in what he called the “Ronald Reagan philosophy,” citing landmark environmental policies from past GOP leaders. He noted that Reagan created California’s Air Resources Board and former President Richard Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency. “He created the Environmental Protection Agency to protect our environment, the water and the air,” Schwarzenegger said, describing Reagan and Nixon as “the kind of Republicans that used to go and work together with the Democrats and got things done. This is the kind of Republican that I am.”
When Kimmel suggested he represents a dying breed, Schwarzenegger rejected the premise entirely. “I don’t think I’m the only one left. This doesn’t mean that we should give up,” he insisted.
Schwarzenegger characterized the recent midterm results as far more severe than a typical wave election. “The bottom line is we have just seen now what some people call the blue wave. Well, I call it a tidal wave or a tsunami. It’s not really a wave anymore,” he said. “Now the Democrats go in there and they have the majority. And then later on the Republicans are going to go in there and have the majority. This is how it goes, back and forth, back and forth.”
He argued that two decades of partisan swings in Washington have produced little tangible progress on major issues, claiming neither party has delivered true immigration reform, addressed the national debt, or built universal healthcare.
Kimmel defended former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, noting “one of them tried.” Schwarzenegger dismissed the law bluntly. “So bogus, believe me,” he said. When pressed, he softened slightly: “Well, ask ordinary people how the healthcare cost is going up. It was a failed kind of… It was a good attempt.”
The action star pointed to his own governorship as proof that compromise works. “What you have to do is the Democrats and the Republicans have to work together like we did when I was governor of California,” he urged. “This is the only way you can accomplish something rather than always pointing fingers and accusing each other of things and calling each other names. You have to get together and accomplish and be a public servant, rather than a party servant. There’s a difference.”
Kimmel found common ground in the final moments, joking: “I bet we agree on 85 percent of things. I mean, we’re both muscular. We both have the same hobbies. We both are very fit.”
Schwarzenegger’s political career began with his 2003 election as California governor in the state’s recall race, a victory that made the Austrian-born actor the state’s 38th chief executive. He served two terms and left office in 2011, frequently clashing with fellow Republicans over environmental and social issues while maintaining his party registration.