ATLANTA — Georgia's secretary of state has received death threats over his handling of last month's election, but he's found a fan in Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"We are big admirers of yours, and you will go down in history for being a good guy, a good public servant," the actor and former California governor told Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on a Zoom call Tuesday.
The call was organized by the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. The institute promotes post-partisanship and urges leaders to put policy over politics, according to its website.
Schwarzenegger explained to Raffensperger that the institute plans to bestow Democracy Action Hero awards next week over Zoom.
"I just want to ask you if you would be kind enough to accept one of those awards that we are giving out because it is only for Democracy Action Heroes and you are a Democracy Action Hero, so we would love to give you that award," Schwarzenegger said.
"Thank you very much. Yes, I will accept," Raffensperger said. "Governor, honestly, we're just trying to run an election, just follow the process, follow the law. We didn't set out to earn any awards."
Raffensperger, a Republican, has repeatedly been criticized by President Donald Trump for his handling of the election since Democrat Joe Biden won the state. Raffensperger has said he and his family have received death threats and police were stationed at his home.
Gabriel Sterling, a top official in Raffensperger's office, made national headlines last week when he called on the president to condemn the ugly rhetoric surrounding the election and the violent threats that have resulted.
