Arnold Schwarzenegger uses a sword to describe the strength of democracy
Following the Pro-Trump riots on January 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol, Arnold Schwarzenegger compared American democracy to the steel of a sword.
Video Transcript
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: Now here's the thing about swords. The more you temper a sword, the stronger it becomes. The more you pound it with the hammer and then heat it in the fire and then thrust it into the cold water and then pound it again and plunge it into the fire and into the water, the more often you do that, the stronger it becomes.
Our democracy is like the steel of this sword. The more it is tempered, the stronger it becomes. Our democracy has been tempered at wars, injustices, and insurrections. Now I grew up in Austria. I'm very aware of Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass. It was a night of rampage against the Jews carried out in 1938 by the Nazi equivalent of the Proud Boys.
Wednesday was the Day of Broken Glass right here in the United States. The broken glass was in the windows of the United States Capitol. But the mob did not just shatter the windows of the Capitol. They shattered the ideals we took for granted. They did not just break down the doors of the building that housed American democracy. They trampled the very principles on which our country was founded.
President Trump sought to overturn the results of an election-- and of a fair election. He sought a coup by misleading people with lies. President Trump is a failed leader. He will go down in history as the worst president ever. The good thing is that he soon will be as irrelevant as an old tweet.
I believe, as shaken as we are by the events of recent days, we will come out stronger because we now understand what can be lost. We need reforms, of course, so that this never ever happens again. We need to hold accountable the people that brought us to this unforgivable point. And we need to look past ourselves, our parties and disagreements, and put our democracy first.
President-elect Biden, we stand with you today, tomorrow, and forever in defense of our democracy from those who would threaten it.
