Arnold Schwarzenegger reveals if he's still Republican after blue 'tsunami' - USA Today

Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't switching parties even after Democrats' sweeping victory at the midterm elections.

On a Wednesday, Nov. 11 episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" the former California governor, 79, said he remains a Republican despite not always agreeing with elected officials in the political party.

"Yeah, I’m a Republican, absolutely," he told host Jimmy Kimmel. "A traditional Republican is someone that admires the Republican Party for having freed the slaves."

Kimmel, 58, quipped that the GOP "don’t get credit for that anymore," to which 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."

The "Terminator" actor explained that he practices the "Ronald Reagan philosophy," referring to how some Republicans have historically fought for causes now associated with Democrats, citing the 40th U.S. president and former California governor's environmental record, including his role in establishing the California Air Resources Board in 1967.

"That was done by Ronald Reagan, a Republican. Nixon created the EPA," he continued. "He created the Environmental Protection Agency to protect our environment, the water and the air."

After Kimmel said that Schwarzenegger's philosophy "sounds like all the opposite things that the Republican party stands for now," the actor said, "Yeah, but it doesn’t mean I have to change my philosophy."

Schwarzenegger said he urges Republicans to work with Democrats to get "things done," as he said he did while serving as governor.

"Unfortunately, I think you're the only one of them left," Kimmel replied.

"No, I don't think I'm the only one left," Schwarzenegger pushed back.

The "Man with the Bag" star also shared details about conversations he had with President Donald Trump ahead of his first White House term.

"When he ran for the first time for the presidency in 2016, we talked to each other several times and because we had a good relationship, we were very good friends. And he asked me if I would go and endorse him and campaign with him," he told Kimmel.

"I said, 'Donald, I'd like to be your friend, I said, but it happens to be to there are certain things that you stand for, that you're talking about... that I don't believe in."

He cited environmental issues as a polarizing topic between them, telling Trump, "You don't believe there is climate change. You don't believe that there's the threat of pollution," adding, "I've worked on that issue for so many years."

Ahead of the 2024 election, Schwarzenegger endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris over Trump and Vice President JD Vance, writing on X, "I will always be an American before I am a Republican. That’s why, this week, I am voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz."

Reacting to Democrats' victory in the Nov. 3 midterm elections, which will give the party control of both chambers of Congress, Schwarzenegger described the results as a blue "tsunami" and said the political landscape would continue to shift between the two parties.

"It has been going back and forth for the last 20 years," he said.