Arnold Schwarzenegger shared his fears about the future of democracy as he reflected on the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
On Monday, the 78-year-old actor and former Republican governor of California joined the University of Southern California’s Interim President Beong-Soo Kim for a live discussion as part of USC’s International Day of Democracy celebrations.
During their conversation, which took place in front of an audience of university students and faculty members, Kim asked Schwarzenegger about his reaction to the murder of the conservative activist on a Utah university campus last week.
“I was very, very upset that someone’s life was taken because they have a different opinion. It’s just unbelievable,” Schwarzenegger said in a clip from the event he shared on X Tuesday. “This was a great communicator, a great advocate for the right — for Republican causes. He had such a great way of communicating with the students that agreed or disagreed with him.”
“It’s a human being. A human life is gone,” the actor continued. “And he was a great father, a great husband. I was thinking about his children. They will only be reading about him now, instead of him reading to them bedtime stories.”
Kirk was hosting a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10 when he was assassinated. On Tuesday, Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old accused of fatally shooting Kirk, was formally charged with aggravated murder as well as felony discharge of a firearm causing bodily injury, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering and one count of committing a violent offense in front of children.
Robinson, who was arrested on Sept. 12 in Utah, will remain in custody without bail. Prosecutors have confirmed they will seek the death penalty in the case.
While speaking at the “A Democracy Day Dialogue” event, Schwarzenegger said that he was “shocked” when he saw the news of Kirk’s assassination. He noted that since the tragedy, there have been an “endless amount” of debates about how to stop political violence in the United States.
“We have to acknowledge that the cause of all of this is the social media companies that are dividing us, the mainstream media companies that are dividing us,” Schwarzenegger said.
“The political parties: the Democrats that are dividing us, the Republicans that are dividing us,” he continued. “We’re getting hit from so many different angles, and we have to be very careful that we don’t get closer to that cliff. Because when you fall down that cliff — down there, there is no democracy.”
“We have to be very, very careful,” Schwarzenegger warned. “I think it is very important that we turn this around and that we show people power. Because the people can turn this around, the people have the ultimate power.”
“And so this is why I recommend very strongly that people who say, ‘Well, what can I do? I’m just an individual,’— each and every one of you in here can make a difference.”
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Addressing the crowd, “The Terminator” star called on USC student members of Democratic and Republican clubs to unite and show leadership.
“Imagine that you get together and you start having communications together and solving problems together. You will have the media turn out in no time and cover that story,” Schwarzenegger said. “And you will be an example for the rest of the nation and for all universities, how you get together, how you not see the other side as the enemy. Or to fight fire with fire, like they’re saying today. Or to declare war on each other, as they’re saying today.”
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“You can show leadership together and be this example. Because remember the people power is the ultimate power. That’s what democracy is all about,” he said. “So use that power.”
“Show to the country and to the world that we can do it,” he added.
In the caption of his X post, Schwarzenegger, who was one of the first celebrities to publicly react after Kirk’s death, praised the crowd at the USC event.
“There’s something more important than my message in this video. It’s what you don’t hear. No heckling. No disrespect. No shouting,” he wrote.
“I know that social media shows us the worst of humanity, and a few people celebrating a death will get more attention than hundreds of respectful people,” Schwarzenegger continued. “Don’t let these companies and the rage influencers that profit from them convince you the worst of us are the most of us.”
“They are a tiny minority that gets too much attention because anger makes you post, repost, and like. This was an audience of almost 500 students, and zero disrespect. That’s how most of the real world outside of the internet is. If you find yourself falling for the anger, go out in the real world and make yourself human again.”
