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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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Arnold Schwarzenegger has said his philosophy as a Republican is to "get things done."
The actor and former governor of California made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday, and clips of the interview have since gone viral. The full video, shared on the show's YouTube channel, has garnered more than 2 million views—far outpacing other recent interviews on the channel.
Republicans, who saw heavy losses in last week's midterms, are reckoning with voter backlash and preparing to work in the minority during the final two years of President Donald Trump's presidency. During the interview, host Jimmy Kimmel asked Schwarzenegger if he is still a Republican, given his criticism of the party's shift under Trump.
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"I'm a Republican, absolutely," he said.
When Kimmel asked what that means, Schwarzenegger said a "traditional Republican" is "someone that admires the Republican Party for having freed the slaves."
He went on to say that he admires the GOP for giving enslaved people citizenship and the right to vote.
"This sounds like all the opposite things that the Republican Party stands for now though, doesn't it?" Kimmel said.
Schwarzenegger responded that it "doesn't mean I have to change my philosophy."
He said his philosophy is the "Ronald Reagan philosophy," adding that the Republican former president, who had also served as California's governor, founded the California Air Resources Board to address air pollution in the state. Schwarzenegger also noted that it was a Republican president, fellow Californian Richard Nixon, who created the Environmental Protection Agency.
"Those are the kinds 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," he said.
Newsweek has contacted a representative for Schwarzenegger for further comment via email.
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‘Public Servant Rather Than Party Servant’
In the interview, Schwarzenegger also said Republicans and Democrats need to work together to pass meaningful legislation.
"You have to get together and accomplish and be a public servant rather than a party servant. There's a difference," he said, sparking raucous applause.
Schwarzenegger, who was in office from 2003 to 2011, said Republicans shouldn't give up over Democrats winning control of both the House and Senate.
"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," he said.
"It has been going back and forth like this for the last 20 years. And what happened in the last 20 years? None of them did true immigration reform," he said, adding: "None of them participated in reducing our debt. None of them created a health care system where everyone is insured. None of them."
When Kimmel interjected to say, "One of them tried"—an apparent reference to Democratic former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act—Schwarzenegger called it bogus.
He said: "Ask ordinary people how their health care cost is going up. So I mean, it was a failed—it was a good attempt."
"If the Democrats do something by themselves or if the Republicans do something by themselves, it's bogus," Schwarzenegger continued. "What you have to do is the Democrats and the Republicans have to work together like we did when I was governor of California. We work together. 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."
What Schwarzenegger Said About Trump
In the interview, Kimmel—who has long feuded with Trump—asked Schwarzenegger if the president had ever sought his support to help "bridge the divide."
Schwarzenegger said the president had asked for his endorsement and for him to join him on the campaign trail when he ran for the presidency in 2016.
But he said he declined because he disagreed with Trump on issues such as climate change.
"We talked to each other several times because we had a good relationship. We were very good friends," he said.
"I said, 'Donald, I like to be your friend,'" he continued. "I said, 'But it happens to be that there are certain things that you stand for, that you're talking about to people out there, that I don't believe in—like, for instance, the environment.' I said, 'You don't believe there is climate change.'"
In 2021, following the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Schwarzenegger went viral after releasing an almost eight-minute video in which he said: "President Trump is a failed leader. He will go down in history as the worst president ever."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Alabama Jackson and Shakeema Edwards.
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