Arnold Schwarzenegger faced sexual misconduct scandals long before the #MeToo movement.
In 2003, when he was running for governor of CALLEEFORNIA, he was accused by multiple women of having groped them without their consent. And he won anyway.
And somehow Donald Trump hates him. Huh.
Related: Refresher On Trump’s Many Sexual Misconduct Accusations
At the time, unlike Trump, Schwarzenegger owned up to his bad actions, apologizing for what he incorrectly thought at the time was “playful” behavior.
Now in the age of Time’s Up, he’s reflecting on that once again, telling Men’s Health:
“Looking back, I stepped over the line several times, and I was the first one to say sorry. I feel bad about it, and I apologize.
When I became governor, I wanted to make sure that no one, including me, ever makes this mistake. That’s why we took sexual harassment courses, to have a clear understanding, from a legal point of view and also from a regular-behavior point of view, of what is accepted and what is not.”
He also says he regrets calling his political opponents “girlie men” during the famous gubernatorial recall race:
“At the time it felt like the right thing to do. It was in my gut. I improvised it. I called them girlie men because they weren’t willing to take risks. They were afraid of everything. Politicians in general want to do little things so there’s no risk involved. But it was shortsighted. In the long term, it’s better to not say that, because you want to work with them.”
Surely he meant to say “and also because it’s reductive to women, who are no less capable of governing and legislating than men.” Surely.
As for what he would do were he in power now?
“Access for everyone to health care. And to get off the arms race and to get off Verschmutzung [polluting]. It’s inexcusable to have so much plastic floating around in the oceans.”
Is he sure he’s still a Republican??
[Image via ATP/WENN.]
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