Arnold Schwarzenegger Channels His Inner ‘Terminator’ While Getting the COVID-19 Vaccine

Arnold Schwarzenegger is urging Americans to listen to more than just medical experts amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, he’s asking them to listen to the Terminator. On Thursday, the former California governor took to social media to document his hilarious adventure receiving his coronavirus vaccine, the actor channeling his Terminator character in an effort to encourage people across the country to get in line for their vaccine once they are eligible.

In a video shared to Instagram, Schwarzenegger is seen sitting in the passenger side of an SUV as he passes through a vaccination clinic at Dodger stadium in Los Angeles. The 73-year-old is eligible for the vaccine now that residents aged 65 and over are eligible, according to The Guardian. As a medical technician administers the vaccine, Schwarzenegger slipped into his Terminator character, telling the technician, “put that needle down!” as she’s injecting him, a line reminiscent to one in the film when he told a neighbor to put the cookies down. After a bandage was placed on his arm, he looked into the camera and said, “Come with me if you want to live.”

He shared the post alongside urging all Californians eligible to follow his lead. The caption read, “Today was a good day. I have never been happier to wait in a line. If you’re eligible, join me and sign up to get your vaccine. Come with me if you want to live!” In a follow-up tweet, Schwarzenegger thanked Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti for checking him in at the stadium’s parking lot, writing, “what a crazy surprise.”

Schwarzenegger also shared the video to Facebook, where he responded to those casting doubt on the safety of the vaccines, again urging people to “listen to the experts.” The actor cited Dr. Anthony Fauci and “all of the virologists and epidemiologists and doctors” who have spent their lives studying diseases and vaccines, writing that he listens “to them and I urge you to do the same.” He added, “none of us are going to learn more than them by watching a few hours of videos. It’s simple: if your house [is] on fire, you don’t go on YouTube, you call the d– fire department.”

“In this case, virtually all of the real experts around the world are telling us the vaccine is safe and some people on Facebook are saying it isn’t,” he continued. “In general, I think if the circle of people you trust gets smaller and smaller and you find yourself more and more isolated, it should be a warning sign that you’re going down a rabbit hole of misinformation.”

Schwarzenegger said it’s “bogus” that “some people say it is weak to listen to experts.” He added that “it takes strength to admit you don’t know everything. Weakness is thinking you don’t need expert advice and only listening to sources that confirm what you want to believe.”