“When I go up to Capitol Hill and I meet with my Republican colleagues, I have a great time meeting with them and talking about the environment and talking about the important issues,” the Republican former California governor told NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press” Sunday.
“I don’t look at them as kind of crazies like some people do,” he added. “There are some that are extreme, but there’s no reason to villainize anybody.”
Schwarzenegger may feel at home, but some of his beliefs put him out of step with many members of his increasingly extreme party, which just unanimously elected an election-denying, climate science-doubting Donald Trump supporter as speaker of the House.
After the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, Schwarzenegger called Trump the “worst president ever” and slammed members of the GOP whose “spinelessness” made them “complicit” with the insurrection.
The bodybuilder-turned-actor recently spoke to SiriusXM’s Howard Stern about issues that matter to him, including bringing Democrats and Republicans together, fighting pollution worldwide and protecting democracy and the right to vote.
He recently told CBS News he’s currently “on a mission to go and reduce greenhouse gases worldwide.”
And in 2021, he told those who opposed COVID-19 vaccines and mask mandates: “Screw your freedom.”