Arnold Schwarzenegger 'Disappointed' He Can't 'Jump in and Run' for President
Austrian-born actor Arnold Schwarzenegger is still lamenting the fact that the U.S. Constitution bars him from running for president because he was born in a foreign country.
In an interview with British talk show host Graham Norton conducted just ahead of the release of the next iteration of the Terminator series, Schwarzenegger expressed his frustration that he is barred from making a run at the highest office in the land, the Daily Mail reported.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, who came to the U.S. in 1968 at the age of 21, became a U.S. citizen in 1983. But because he is not a natural-born citizen, the Constitution bars him from becoming president.
“Of course,” the Terminator star said when asked if he was disappointed that he could never become president. “It would have been great to jump in and run.”
“It’s the only thing I can’t do in America. Everything else I’ve done is because it is in America, it’s the land of opportunity,” Schwarzenegger added.
Schwarzenegger has lamented his ineligibility to run for president many times since he won office in California. In 2016 he toldAd Week that he wished he could run for president instead of Trump.
Still, even though he ran for, and won, the office of Governor of California, Schwarzenegger insisted that he hates politics.
“I hate politics. Even when I was Governor (of California), I never considered myself a politician,” he told Norton.
The Predator star also told Adweek that he was never very fond of politics. “I didn’t love politics,” he said of his time in the governor’s office, “but I love policy.”
Still, the actor is busy campaigning against gerrymandering, fighting climate change, and takes often takes shots at President Donald Trump.
Schwarzenegger will co-star in Terminator: Dark Fate debuting next month.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.