Arnold Schwarzenegger says critics of COVID-19 masking rules are “schmucks” who should stop making appeals to freedom and liberty to defend their position.
The iconic action star boiled down his message on CNN to three words: “Screw your freedom.”
“You cannot say, ’No one is going to tell me that I’m going to stop here, that I have to stop at this traffic light here,’ ” he said Wednesday to CNN’s Bianna Golodryga. “’I’m going to go right through it.’ Then you kill someone else, and then it is your doing.”
Mr. Schwarzenegger said that U.S. mask critics have “obligations and responsibilities” that should dictate their behavior as it pertains to the pandemic.
“You can infect someone that then gets sick and may die,” he continued. “Yeah, you have the freedom to wear no mask. But you know something, you’re a schmuck for not wearing a mask because you’re supposed to protect the fellow members around you.”
The actor then insisted that his “schmuck” and “screw you” comments were not meant “to villainize anyone.”
“I just wanted to tell everyone, let’s work together, and let’s stop fighting because there is a virus,” he said.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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