Davis Seizes on Reports About Schwarzenegger

As Republicans pressed the case for Gray Davis’ removal, the governor on Friday said dual allegations that Arnold Schwarzenegger engaged in sexual misconduct and once expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler cast doubt on the actor’s fitness for the state’s highest public office.

For the second day, the accusations diverted Schwarzenegger from his chosen campaign themes as he rode northward on a four-day bus trip from San Diego to Sacramento.

After apologizing Thursday for having “behaved badly” toward women in incidents that he saw as “playful” at the time, the Austrian-born candidate said Friday that he could not imagine making admiring comments about Hitler.

The comments, allegedly made in the 1970s, were included in an unpublished book proposal made public Thursday night.

“I have always despised everything that Hitler stands for,” said Schwarzenegger, a longtime benefactor of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.

“And with the history of my country, Germany, Austria were all part of it. That’s why I’m very adamant for the fight against prejudice and to never let that happen again.”

The author of the book proposal, documentary producer George Butler, released a statement Friday saying the comments attributed to Schwarzenegger were “not in context and not even strictly accurate.”

Davis, a Democrat who could lose his job in Tuesday’s recall election, on Friday reversed his initially cautious approach to the accusations that have thrown Schwarzenegger’s campaign into turmoil.

At a campaign rally in Long Beach, Davis brought up the complaints by several women that Schwarzenegger had touched them sexually without their consent -- as reported Thursday by The Times -- and the disputed Hitler remarks.

“If true, his personal behavior was disturbing and unacceptable and his professed admiration for Adolf Hitler unconscionable,” Davis said.

The allegations also led to new attacks on Schwarzenegger by two rivals in the race to replace Davis: Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, a Democrat, and state Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks). They are among 135 candidates on the ballot to succeed Davis if a majority of voters opts to recall the governor.

“If the allegations are true, I believe he is morally unfit to hold public office,” said McClintock, who added that he was highly skeptical of last-minute campaign attacks.

A Field Poll released Friday, meanwhile, confirmed that Schwarzenegger has emerged as the clear front-runner in the gubernatorial replacement race. The poll, taken before the allegations came to dominate the campaign, showed the recall itself also winning handily.

Schwarzenegger’s alleged remarks about Hitler came in a 1975 interview he reportedly gave while making “Pumping Iron,” a documentary on bodybuilding.

Butler, the film’s producer, released a transcript Friday quoting Schwarzenegger as saying: “I admired Hitler for instance, because he came from being a little man with almost no formal education, up to power. And I admire him for being such a good public speaker and for his way of getting to the people and so on. But I didn’t admire him for what he did with it.”

In an interview with The Times two months ago, Butler had denied Schwarzenegger made those remarks.

Schwarzenegger, followed by an international media entourage Friday on the second day of his “California Comeback Express” bus tour, sought to shift the campaign’s focus back to topics more favorable to his candidacy. He railed against the tripling of the state’s car tax and vowed to cut the soaring costs that employers pay to insure workers against injuries on the job.

“I always remind myself I got into this race because I could no longer stand by and watch the politicians of Sacramento not doing anything for the people, neglecting the people,” Schwarzenegger told supporters at a morning rally in Arcadia, northeast of Los Angeles.

Politicians “tear this state down, tear the economy down, chase business out of the state and chase jobs out of the state, and now it’s time we chase Gray Davis out of Sacramento,” he told the cheering crowd.

But he also defended his candidacy.

“They try to tear your character down and everything you stand for,” Schwarzenegger told 2,000 supporters at the Arcadia rally. “And let me tell you something: They have already begun, but I will stay focused. I will always stay focused, because the fight continues.”

Later, at a diner in Gorman, where he ate a club sandwich and potato salad, Schwarzenegger told a reporter: “My whole life, I always had my blinders on to shoot for the goal.

“Have you seen the crowds?” he asked. “It gets bigger and bigger and bigger.”

Indeed, many of his supporters seemed to brush aside the accusations. In a visit to a building materials company in Santa Clarita, a woman shouted: “He can grope me!”

Aides said Schwarzenegger had nothing further to say about his blanket apology to anyone he might have offended.

“What more is there to say?” said campaign spokesman Rob Stutzman. “Continuing to talk about it is exactly what the Democratic sleaze artists want to have happen. We’re not going to do it.”

In Newport Beach on Friday, Schwarzenegger’s wife, Maria Shriver, added her support at a Conservative Women’s Leadership Assn. luncheon at the Balboa Bay Club. She said the allegations did not hurt “because I know the man I’m married to.”

“I see women who work for him who admire him,” she said. “He’s been an extreme gentleman.”

She refused to answer any other questions about the allegations, saying, “I don’t believe in gutter politics and I don’t believe in gutter journalism. He’s taken the high road -- he apologized, and that’s courageous.”

U.S. Rep. Darrell E. Issa (R-Vista), who paid for most of the recall petition drive, also stood by Schwarzenegger.

“I’ve never been lucky enough to have a beautiful female bodybuilder jump on my lap, or a reporter come on to me in an interview, so I don’t have a reference to what the life of a Hollywood superstar or a world-class bodybuilder is like,” he said.

“But Arnold has said very much that he regrets anyone he may have offended, while at the same time he has a long record of showing sensitivity, rather than insensitivity, which is what’s being alleged,” Issa said.

In Long Beach, Davis sought to keep public discussion of the allegations alive.

“The voters will be the judge of Mr. Schwarzenegger’s behavior and his word,” he said. “For my part, the information about Mr. Schwarzenegger’s conduct and beliefs raises serious questions about his ability to govern this state.”

He called on Schwarzenegger to “apologize to the women themselves” for the misconduct. Davis also told reporters that if Schwarzenegger really made the comments about Hitler, they were “beyond the pale.”

“I don’t see how anyone could express admiration for someone who killed 10 million people and is one of the most reviled figures in world history,” Davis said.

The governor, long known as a pugnacious candidate, also went on a broader offensive against Schwarzenegger. Speaking to a crowd of longshoremen, teamsters and other port workers, he noted that the GOP front-runner calls unions “special interests.”

“We need someone who understands the struggles that working people have made in this state,” Davis said.

Davis also accused Schwarzenegger of offering too few details on how he would balance the state budget.

“Mr. Schwarzenegger is running a campaign that boils down to this: Trust me,” he said. “He has no plan to fix our economy. He says, ‘Well, I’ll just make cuts; don’t worry about it.’ ”

Other Democrats seconded the governor’s criticism, including presidential candidate Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, who appeared with Davis at the Long Beach rally, and U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer.

“Anyone who hopes to serve in public life who admired Hitler -- the most despicable figure in world history -- in any way, or who holds up Hitler as a role model or a hero, is not fit for public office,” Boxer said in a statement.

The other major recall candidates, lost to the public eye because of the focus on Schwarzenegger and Davis, also spoke out against their Republican opponent.

Bustamante, who campaigned Friday in Redding, San Jose and Fresno, said the sexual misconduct accusations against Schwarzenegger “would probably make him less able to deal with all the major issues that are confronting us here in California.”

Speaking to reporters before a private fund-raiser at a casino owned by the Redding Rancheria Indian tribe, Bustamante said he could not “imagine anyone finding anything admirable about Adolf Hitler.”

“There’s a surprise every day to this guy,” Bustamante said of Schwarzenegger. “I think this is one surprise too many.”

Bustamante, who has clashed with Davis but campaigned nonetheless against his ouster, also warned that further recalls are inevitable if this one succeeds. At the same time, he made an appeal to replace Davis with himself.

“It’s very important that we move forward and get rid of this recall -- and get somebody in there who can finally start dealing with the real issues of California,” Bustamante said.

McClintock, campaigning in San Diego, called the groping allegations against Schwarzenegger “absolutely shocking to anyone who cares about living in a civilized society.”

“Mr. Schwarzenegger could help in sorting out those details if he would clarify his side of it,” McClintock said.

“I think the issue has become somewhat more confused because of the vagueness of his statement” of apology on Thursday.

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Times staff writers Daryl Kelley, Scott Martelle and Jean Pasco contributed to this report.