Former CA Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (and His Pets) Say ‘Don’t Go To Restaurants’

Former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger tweeted a message of support for successor Gavin Newsom Sunday, urging every Californian to avoid restaurants and public gatherings in an effort to slow the spread of the newest form of coronavirus (COVID-19). Apparently aware that his star power might not be enough to sway those who refuse to follow Newsom’s guidance that people over the age of 65 should self-isolate at home, the Terminator enlisted two of his mini-ponies to assist with his message.

“Stay at home as much as possible. Listen to the experts, ignore the morons,” the 72-year-old seven-time Mr. Olympia winner said, as he fed carrots to Whiskey and Lulu, two members of his sizable crew of pets. “See, the important thing is that you stay at home,” Schwarzenegger said in the video. “Because there is a curfew now. No one is allowed out, especially someone who is, like, 72 years old. After you’re 65, you’re not allowed out of the house anymore in California.”

The former governor (from 2003 to 2011, the state’s most recent Republican governor) isn’t quite right about that: Newsom’s guidance, which was issued Sunday, did indeed say that bars, brew pubs, and wineries in the state should shutter and that those with chronic conditions and over the age of 65 should voluntarily self-isolate to avoid the virus. However, Newsom said that this wasn’t an official order, and that he expected people to self-regulate — and that if they didn’t, he could easily make his request an official order, which would be legally enforced.

“No more restaurants, forget about that,” Schwarzenegger told his 4.4 million Twitter followers. “Public gatherings, restaurants, and gymnasiums — out the window...We don’t go out, we don’t go to restaurants, we don’t do anything like that anymore here.”