http://www.suntimes.com/output/elect/cst-nws-calif041.html
More women claim Schwarzenegger harassed them

October 4, 2003

BY JEREMIAH MARQUEZ



BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. --Women's groups and religious leaders worked feverishly Friday to galvanize opposition to Arnold Schwarzenegger after he acknowledged treating women badly and was accused of telling an interviewer he admired Adolf Hitler.

A coalition of women's groups met at the Feminist Majority offices here to unveil an anti-Schwarzenegger ad campaign and introduce a former TV network intern who said the candidate groped her when she showed him around a sound stage 25 years ago.

She was one of several women -- including radio psychologist Joy Browne -- to come forward Friday with new allegations that Schwarzenegger groped or made inappropriate comments to them. The allegations echo complaints made by other women against the Republican front-runner in the election to recall Gov. Gray Davis.

Criticism also poured in from religious leaders and the state's top Democrats for remarks attributed to the actor in 1975 that he admired Hitler's ability to rise from humble beginnings. Schwarzenegger also played Nazi marches and mimicked SS officers, according to the director of the 1975 bodybuilding documentary ''Pumping Iron.''

''To express admiration for a person directly responsible for the death of tens of millions of people during World War II is beyond comprehension,'' said Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), the only Holocaust survivor in Congress. ''I think it probably ends any political ambition he may have had.''

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) called praise for Hitler ''appalling,'' and Davis said it was ''unconscionable.''

On Thursday Schwarzenegger acknowledged and apologized for having ''behaved badly sometimes'' around women but said he could not imagine saying anything positive about Hitler, whom he said he despised.

On Friday, the second day of his four-day bus tour of the state, as more women came forward to claim sexual misconduct, the actor ignored the allegations, and some of his supporters laughed them off.

''He can grope me,'' one woman shouted at a campaign stop in Santa Clarita. Some supporters held signs reading: ''Gray Davis groped me . . . while reaching for my wallet.''

The Los Angeles Times quoted six women Thursday -- two by name and four anonymously -- who said Schwarzenegger had groped or sexually harassed them during separate incidents between 1975 and 2000.

Browne told ''Inside Edition'' Friday that Schwarzenegger groped her ankles and knees during an interview in the 1970s.

As more women came forward, Schwarzenegger campaign spokesman Todd Harris said one of the accusers was a member of a union that opposes Schwarzenegger.

''So here we have the first direct fingerprint of Democratic involvement in this last-minute anti-Arnold sleaze campaign,'' Harris said.

Stories by ABC News and the New York Times said the actor told an interviewer during the filming of ''Pumping Iron'' that he admired Hitler's rise to power and wished he could have experienced the thrill Hitler must have had in speaking to huge audiences who agreed with everything he said.

The news organizations said the remarks were contained in transcripts from a book proposal made by ''Pumping Iron'' director George Butler.

Amber Bowden, 19, said in San Bernardino that she voted for Schwarzenegger by absentee ballot but wishes she could take her vote back in light of the allegations. That's impossible, said San Bernardino County Registrar Scott Konopasek.

''It lowers my esteem of him,'' said Bowden, who was voting in her first election. ''It might affect his ability to lead the state.''

AP