Antelope Valley Press

Schwarzene­gger compares Capitol mob to Nazis

- By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzene­gger compared the mob that stormed the US Capitol to the Nazis and called President Donald Trump a failed leader who “will go down in history as the worst president ever.”

The Republican said in a video he released on social media on Sunday that “Wednesday was the Night of Broken Glass right here in the United States.” In 1938, Nazis in Germany and Austria vandalized Jewish homes, schools and businesses during an attack that became known as Kristallna­cht or “the Night of Broken Glass.”

“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 ideas we took for granted,” he said.

“They trampled the very principles on which our country was founded.”

Schwarzene­gger, who was born in Austria, compared the Proud Boys — a far-right American extremist group — to the Nazis. Some Proud Boys leaders were arrested in the nation’s capital, before and after Wednesday’s riots.

In his video, Schwarzene­gger called Trump a failed leader and said he took solace that Trump’s presidency was coming to an end and “would soon be as irrelevant as an old tweet.”

He called for national unity and vowed his support for President-elect Joe Biden after mobs loyal to Trump broke into the US Capitol, causing a temporary suspension of the electoral count. Members of Congress later returned and certified the results.

Five people died, including a Capitol police officer. Scores of rioters have been arrested and many more are being sought after the brazen attack.

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