Schwarzenegger and the 'renegade' Republicans attacking Trump and voting for Harris

"I would like to disconnect," Schwarzenegger stated. "But I can't, because," he further explained, "rejecting the results of an election is the most serious anti-American behaviour you can have" and calling America "a rubbish can for the world is so unpatriotic that it infuriates me.

"I will always be an American before I am a Republican, that is why," Schwarzenegger said, "I will vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz this week.

Centre voters, moderate Republicans, those unconvinced by Trump could make the difference in this election. They could enable Kamala Harris to win votes in swing states like Arizona or even Pennsylvania. And decisive might be the words and the pro-Democratic activity of some Republicans who have gone over to Harris's side, and who have already been reviled and pointed at by Trump and his people as 'renegades', 'boiled and already fired', 'people who betrayed for personal gain'.

Really difficult accusations to sustain against former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, who in the Trump years in the White House voted following the conservative party's lead in almost all measures that came to the floor. Cheney, who was vice-chair of the House committee investigating the 6 January attack on the Capitol, is one of Trump's most vocal accusers, and was ousted by Trump and his loyalists from the party. "As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I've thought this through. And," she said, "because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only will I not vote for Donald Trump, I will vote for Kamala Harris.

Former Vice-President Dick Cheney, joined his daughter, Liz, in announcing his intention to vote for Harris. Cheney not only served as Vice President to President George W. Bush, he was Secretary of Defence under President George Bush the father, and White House Chief of Staff under President Gerald Ford. And he represented Wyoming in the House for ten years. "In the 248-year history of our nation, there has never been an individual who posed a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump," Cheney, considered a hawk of the Republican right, said in a statement last September. "He tried to steal the last election by using lies and violence to keep himself in power after voters rejected him. He can no longer be trusted in power. As citizens, we all have a duty,' he concluded, 'to put the country above factions to defend our Constitution. That is why I will vote for Vice President Kamala Harris."

Many of the Republican old guard - starting with the former president's deputy in the White House, Mike Pence - can't stand Trump and have decided to vote for Harris. Among them are former CIA Director William Webster and John Negroponte, President George W. Bush's Director of National Intelligence, along with a hundred other senior Gop national security and foreign policy officials. And also 17 staff members of the late President Ronald Reagan, the ultimate political reference for American conservatives: 'Those of us who worked with Ronald Reagan in the White House, in the administration, in campaigns, and on his personal staff, know that he would join us in supporting the Harris-Walz couple, because today a choice between integrity and demagoguery must be made,' they said.

Among the Republican newcomers who have decided not to align themselves with Trump are former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan; Anthony Scaramucci, former White House communications director under Trump; and former Congressman Adam Kinzinger.

And then some women, young, who fear for rights and democracy in the United States. Stephanie Grisham was White House press secretary under Trump and chief of staff to first lady Melania Trump before resigning on 6 January 2021, when a mob of the former president's supporters violently attacked the Capitol: 'I love my country more than my party. Trump is a lie. Kamala Harris speaks the truth, respects the American people and has my vote,' he said.

Olivia Troye, former national security advisor to Mike Pence, said the Republican candidate's goal is 'to sow doubt and division' and called voting for Harris a vote for democracy. Grisham and Troye are not as famous as Schwarzenegger, but they can move votes and perhaps make a difference.