Arnold Schwarzenegger Reflects on the Parallels Between Trumpism & Nazism, and How We Can Save Our Democracy

He grew up in the ruins of World War II–the ruins created by the Nazism and its ideological commitment to conspiracy theories, violence and white supremacy. Based on that formative experience, the former Republican governor offers his take on this week’s coup attempt in Washington: “Being from Europe, I’ve seen how things can spin out of control… We must be aware of the dire consequences of selfishness and cynicism. President Trump sought to overturn the results of an election, of a fair election. He sought a coup by misleading people with lies. My father and our neighbors were also misled with lies, and I know where such lies lead.” To avoid a similar fate, we must hold the conspirators accountable, find public servants who will serve higher ideals, and, most importantly, “look past ourselves, our parties and our disagreements, and put our democracy first.” Amen Arnold.

Related Content:

20 Lessons from the 20th Century About How to Defend Democracy from Authoritarianism: A Timely List from Yale Historian Timothy Snyder

The Story of Fascism: Rick Steves’ Documentary Helps Us Learn from the Hard Lessons of the 20th Century

Umberto Eco Makes a List of the 14 Common Features of Fascism

Hannah Arendt Explains How Propaganda Uses Lies to Erode All Truth & Morality: Insights from The Origins of Totalitarianism


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Comments (3)
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  • gwr says:

    Um… I don’t know… He might mean well but this video sure feels like “let’s fight fascism with fascism”.

  • Louise Beaumont says:

    How? You’re insane…

  • gwr says:

    Hi Louise,
    Flags, uniforms, swords, intense string section, appeals to nationalism and order through power, the stark lighting, the authoritative setting, his teutonic accent (I know that’s not fair, blame all the WWII movies I’ve seen). Things like that… Like I said, I think he means well. The aesthetics just feel very fascistic to me and I’m not down with heading in that direction, especially right now.

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