Oct. 30 (UPI) — With less than a week to go before Tuesday’s general election, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have secured the endorsements of two well-known Americans.
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin has officially endorsed Trump, while actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger threw his support behind Harris.
Aldrin said he’s intrigued by Trump’s support for space exploration and the importance that he placed on space while president.
“A half century ago, it was an honor to serve my country in the effort to put a human being on the moon,” Aldrin said Wednesday in a post on X. “I have dedicated my life to the pursuit of an enduring human presence in space.”
Aldrin said he has seen governmental support for space exploration “wax and wane,” and was impressed at the importance Trump gave human space exploration while he was president.
“Under President Trump’s first term, America saw are vitalized interest in space, and his administration reignited national efforts to get back to the moon and push on to Mars,” Aldrin posted.
He said the Trump administration re-instituted the National Space Council and enhanced national security through the creation of the U.S. Space Force.
Aldrin said he also was encouraged by private investment in space exploration during the Trump administration.
“I have been enthused and excited by the great advancements in the private sector space economy, led by visionaries like Elon Musk,” Aldrin said. “These are concrete accomplishments that align with my concerns and America’s policy priorities.”
Schwarzenegger’s endorsement of Harris is especially important because he is a former Republican governor of California, he said Wednesday in a post on X.
He said he normally doesn’t offer political endorsements, hates politics and doesn’t trust most politicians.
Because he is a former Republican governor as well as a celebrity, Schwarzenegger said people are interested in knowing who he supports for the presidency.
“My time as governor taught me to love policy and ignore politics,” Schwarzenegger said. Policy “requires working with the other side, not insulting them to win your next election.”
He said policies can help make people’s lives better and he supports the “fight for clean air and stripping the power from the politicians who rig the system against the people.”
Schwarzenegger said he doesn’t like the Democratic or Republican parties at the moment. The GOP has “forgotten the beauty of the free market” while driving up national deficits and rejected election results.
He said Democrats are just as bad about driving up deficits and he worries about “their local policies hurting our cities with increased crime.”
Schwarzenegger said he’d like to tune out politics this year but can’t and alluded to Trump challenging the 2020 election results.
“Rejecting the results of an election is as un-American as it gets,” he said. “Calling America … a trash can for the world is so unpatriotic, it makes me furious.”
He said he “will always be an American before I am a Republican.”
“That’s why, this week, I am voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz,” Schwarzenegger said. “I think there are a lot of you who feel like I do. You don’t recognize our county, and you are right to be furious.”