Arnold Schwarzenegger Explains to Jimmy Kimmel Why He’s ‘Absolutely’ Still a Republican After the Blue ‘Tsunami’ Midterms

Arnold Schwarzenegger, action icon and former governor of California, said during his Wednesday appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” that he’s “absolutely” still an outspoken member of the Republican Party.

“Yeah, I’m a Republican, absolutely,” he said. “A traditional Republican is someone that admires the Republican Party for having freed the slaves.”

Jimmy Kimmel pointed out that Republicans “don’t get credit for that anymore,” and Schwarzenegger replied, “This is the history. This is what I’m about. Someone that has given those slaves American citizenship and given them the rights to vote.”

Kimmel then quipped, “This sounds like all the opposite things that the Republican Party stands for now, though, doesn’t it?” Schwarzenegger held his ground, telling the late-night host, “Yeah, but it doesn’t mean I have to change my philosophy.”

Schwarzenegger went on to explain that his brand of Republican politics follows the “Ronald Reagan philosophy.” He pointed out that historically, some Republicans have fought for causes now associated with the Left. He used Ronald Reagan’s creation of the California Air Resources Board as an example.

“That was done by Ronald Reagan, a Republican. Nixon created the EPA,” Schwarzenegger said. “He created the Environmental Protection Agency to protect our environment, the water and the air.”

Schwarzenegger then branded himself as someone who aligns with “the kind of Republicans that used to go and work together with the Democrats and got things done.” Noting the massive Democratic win in the midterms, Schwarzenegger added that the blue “tsunami” shows how, after two years of Donald Trump’s second term, the political landscape naturally balances itself out.

“The bottom line is we have just seen now what some people call the blue wave,” he said. “Well, I call it a tidal wave or a tsunami. It’s not really a wave anymore … 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. This is how it goes, back and forth, back and forth.”