American, do you think you could have been president . Announcer welcome to the axe files. And action. Thanks, governor. Good to be here with you in this office, which is as colorful and as eclectic as your amazing life. Were here just days before a really consequential election, and i want to talk about that, but i have to take advantage of being here with you to talk about the issue of celebrity and politics, because we have a celebrity president now, and you, in certain ways, were a trail blazer in this modern era. I mean, i remember very well watching the tonight show when you announced your candidacy, and you were you sold a persona that people knew from film. I mean, you were an action hero. Tell me about that experience of making the transition from film to the gritty real life of politics. Well, i think that i had become somewhat addicted to the idea of, you know, the policy idea and that you can really create change. Because i was in with Special Olympics and worked with that organization and saw the impact that we have and the celebrity power that i could bring to the Special Olympics and how much more of a crowd we could attract and therefore how much more media we could get and so on and we could really move forward the agenda of Special Olympics to have it all over the world and it didnt matter if i went to the middle east or if i went to asia or south africa and stood there with mandela. Celebrity power has a certain power of influence, and i think thats what led me to run for governor, and as a huge advantage because, first of all, you have the make recognition factor. Name recognition. You have a huge popularity. People like your movies so you build this huge fan club out there. And it wasnt just the recognition, though. You were the you were the terminator. You were going to take a sledge hammer and smash a system that wasnt working. You actually took a sledge hammer during that campaign and smashed a car, i remember, because there was a car tax that you were going to repeal. Hasta la vista, baby, to the car tax. And people have felt that, you know, maybe this guy, because of his persona, because of the vibe that he sends, hes not part of the system, that he can change things. Well, and it is true. I mean, you can, as an outsider, change things because you go in there fresh, you dont owe anyone anything, but also because of naivete. So when someone comes to you and you are in there and they say, well, this is impossible, and i say to them, right away, well, my whole life, people have told me its impossible. Its impossible to be a World Champion in body building when you come from austria, its impossible as a foreigner that you can become a leading man in movies and become the highest grossing star in the movies. All of this was impossible. Im not going to take this as impossible. The advantage of being a celebrity and being the terminator and the action hero is that people buy into that and so in a state that is 60 democrats, and a much smaller percentage of republicans, and then independents, it was very hard for a republican to win, but the important thing was that i was the terminator, so there were people there were democrats that said, well, hes the terminator, hes going to terminate the problems. That was the advantage. Thats how you get into office. But the disadvantage of it is, when we had a drought in california and there were there were 42 unemployment because we didnt have enough water, so eventually i went up to a town hall meeting and at the town hall meeting, it became very clear that the guy one of the farmers screamed loud. He says, i voted for the terminator. I envision that youre going to go up there and break the chains and the waters going to flow and its going to go and bring all this water to our farms and we can farm and have all the farm. Thats what i expected of you. So, this is the disadvantage. They really believed that i would just break the chain and do all of those things because thats what i would do in a movie as terminator, but thats not reality. So i had to explain to them, no, this is the real life, this is not a movie. Yeah. But you did sell the persona was something that you sold. You werent naive about that either. You live by the terminator, you die by the terminator. And it helped you get elected. So, lets talk about the guy in the white house. You are very different in many ways, but in the way of celebrity, you had this thing in common. He had a persona that he sold. He had a character that he sold, this uber business guy who this infallible businessman who makes things happen and fires people who arent doing their job and so on. That was a powerful thing. Thats what made him win, you know . I think that people really bought into the books that he has written, they bought into the show, the Celebrity Apprentice, the character that he was, and so he played that role. And the people bought in on it and he won. When you watched him, did you see immediately that dynamic . I felt that it could have the same dynamics as my campaign had, that people wanted someone from the outside. People were sick and tired of what was going on in washington, and look, people had all right to be very upset. I mean, you know, for how long can you talk about building more infrastructure in america. How much longer can you talk about Immigration Reform . How much longer can you talk about having everyone having health care or having equal education, paying down the debt, all of those kind of things, and nothing is happening. So, people felt like, okay, we need an outsider to come to bring in and maybe he can clean house. Maybe. You know, lets give it a shot. And thats, i think, what happened. You replaced him on the Celebrity Apprentice and he kind of turned on you, i guess the ratings were not what he wanted. He was the executive producer. And he went to a congressional Prayer Breakfast and kind of punked you at the congressional Prayer Breakfast, and you, in turn, released a video. Hey, donald, i have a great idea. Why dont we switch jobs. You take over tv, because youre such an expert in ratings, and i take over your job. Did you ever speak privately with him about all of that . No, we didnt really have any more conversations after that. Look, trump asked me to support him in the campaign and i said to him i wont because of the environmental stance that he had. I said, anyone that talks about bringing back coal is going backwards rather than forward. I was instrumental and was the force behind passing some of the toughest environmental laws in california where we made a commitment to roll back our Greenhouse Gases by 25 and i told him all the things that we have done here. I said, so now, endorsing you and going with you would mean going back on all this work we have done in california. He understood when i told him that, and i think that that maybe had something to do with why he wanted to kind of say that about the Celebrity Apprentice. Youre still angry about that. The thing is, what you say in public, i understand it because ive made mistakes, what ive said in public. Ive called politicians girly men that i regretted later on because i realized it sounds good for my crowd, they were screaming, yeah, schwarzenegger, yeah, hes the terminator, but then when i sat down with them, with the legislators and started negotiating, i felt like it was not the right move. You know, that if you want to work with these people and if you want to bring them in and make them feel comfortable and that you are with them, thats not the right thing to say. So i made mistakes in the past. So i understand when he says these things. Talk about playing to the crowd, though. He does that. Thats sort of his i mean, its quite different than what youre describing, the sort of reaching across, trying to find he relentlessly plays to his crowd. Is that the right thing to do . Im not going to tell him what he should do and what he shouldnt do. We are two different people. My approach is a little different. My approach is inclusive. So, put your political hat on for a second. Weve got a few days until this next until this midterm election, a lot riding on this election, including on some of the issues that youre that youre working on. Trump is out there now and he said this election boils down to the caravan and kavanaugh and the economy. Is that an effective pitch . Youre asking me a political question. Yeah. And i have to say to you that i am very little interested in politics because it sucks. Because im more interested in policy. The reality of it is, we are at that stage because for 20 years, they have promised to create Immigration Reform, and they havent. Well, let me ask you about that. I think its embarrassing. The same is, like i said earlier, for decades, theyve talked about to rebuild our infrastructure, the bridges falling apart, and we need freeways and we need to high speed rails and all this kind of stuff and nothing is getting done, so therefore, to me, its more important to get the job done rather than to worry about is the caravan coming or not. If Immigration Reform, where we a secure the border and also deal with the people that are actually here, the lawabiding citizens and bring them into our system officially and make them be part of and grant them to stay here. If that is worked out, democrats and republicans, then we wouldnt have any of this problem. But governor, when the president is out there or any leader kind of stoking up sort of this nativist sentiment against immigrants, youre an immigrant. You must have feelings about that. Well, first of all, theres a difference between a legal immigrant and an illegal immigrant. So, one should never kind of make the mistake im the son of an immigrant. I came over here legally, and i think that without even though we are talking about all the problems that america have right now, and the screaming and the fighting thats going on, its still the best country in the world, lets be honest. None of the things that i have accomplished i would have been able to accomplished if it werent for america. Isnt that why people want to come here. Yes, but youve got to come legally. So he wants to cut immigration in half, legal immigration, as part of his program. You cant be enthused about that. I believe that we are a country that has been has become great because of immigration and because of immigrants that have worked very hard here and theyve contributed and im all for people coming in here legally and working and filling the jobs and if they would create Immigration Reform where they actually expand the amount of people that come in here, legally, because we need them in farming. We need them in construction. We need them in the restaurants. So, there is a demand over there when you go south of the border here, theres a demand to come here. And theres a demand over here for those people to come here. So, i mean, you have supply and demand, you have everything right there. Why not bring it together . Announcer coming up on the axe files. You had your own issues about allegations of groping and unwanted advances. What are your reflections on it now at this stage in your life . The new Capital One Savor card. Earn 4 cash back on dining and 4 on entertainment. 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You had personal issues that were well publicized in your own life and family. A lot of very significant figures in our society, movie executives, politicians, and others have lost their job over these kinds of charges. The president s been rallying people and saying this is the me too movement has gone too far and so on. I mean, what is your thought about all of that . Youve got a couple of daughters. I think that some people can think that it went too far. I think the time was perfect, and i think it is good that theres a time where women could speak up and really be heard for the first time. Because so many times, women have not been listened to and have not been heard. So, i think thats good. Yes, it sometimes goes to the extreme, but thats okay. It was about time that it happened. You heard that access hollywood tape. I just start kissing them. Its like a magnet. And when youre a star, they let you do it. Was that sort of the culture in entertainment that you grew up in . Look, i dont want to comment about his tapes or anything like that. No, im just asking you a broader question. But i mean, its like you know, everyone has their issues, and he dealt with it in his way. Im not actually talking about him, though. Im asking, culture changes. Was that sort of a culture in the entertainment it falls into the same category. When you were when you were an when you were a young actor. It doesnt matter if youre an actor, not an actor. I think that people have a right to look into your background and to dig up those things if they want to and this is opposition research, and theyre going to throw that stuff at you. And they threw at me all kinds of things about steroid usage and about smoking marijuana and all of this kind of stuff they threw at me, and i explained it and we moved on. What were your interactions with women fair game and what are your reflections on it now at this stage in your life . Well, let me tell you something. When i became governor, one of the first things that they did was we organized a Sexual Harassment course in the Governors Office so that everyone can listen to it so theres no mistakes made. And after i listened to that course, when the instructor told us that if your chief of staff, which is a woman, comes in here to the office and says and you say to her, i love your dress, its a beautiful dress, and then within the same breath say to the man, and by the way, your tie, that green tie, really looks great, she could go and take this as Sexual Harassment. So, based on the that, of what we have learned, i have to say that i sometimes stepped over the line and i have to say i was the first one to feel bad about that because that was not intentional, because i respect women, and you know, one has to just say, look, if i made a mistake, sorry about that. But the mistakes that you were the allegations against you, and i think youve acknowledged some of them went beyond saying that someone had a nice dress, right . Well, it was similar things like that. So it wasnt groping or anything. You didnt do any of that. Someone could interpret that as groping, yeah, absolutely. There are republicans out there who say, whatever the president s style, weve got tax cuts, weve got deregulation, weve got conservative judges, and in fact, those republicans who have been critical of the president , that was their hasta la vista, baby, moment. They were out. How do you feel about that . And the kind of the state of the Republican Party right now . Its really trumps party right now, isnt it . I always felt the Republican Party is a big tent party, and so even when i was governor, there were people way to the right, and then there were people in the center, and i think that as i looked into it, what creates that atmosphere of the extremism is because of gerrymandering and in gerrymandering, you know, you lock in the democrats on one side and if theyre really far to the left, you cant beat them in that district, and the republican is locked in there and you cannot beat them because he will be as far to the right but then when the far right and the far left go to the capital, if its a state capital or in washington, they cannot get together. Thats the problem becau