WASHINGTON — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, here for a meeting with his fellow governors, told a national television audience Sunday that the U.S. Constitution should be amended so he and other foreign-born Americans would be eligible for the presidency.
The appearance, on NBC's "Meet the Press," kicked off a whirlwind day during which California's governor was the star -- and sometimes the entertainment -- at events from a lunch at National Governors Assn. meetings to a dinner at the White House.
"Wait a minute," declared Schwarzenegger as photographers prepared to snap a picture of all 50 state chief executives. "A lot of these guys need makeup!"
Asked by "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert about a constitutional amendment proposed by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) that would allow immigrants to run for president, Schwarzenegger said: "I think that there's so many people here in this country that are now from overseas, that are immigrants, that are doing such a terrific job with the work, bringing businesses here and all this, that there's no reason why not.
"Look at the kind of contribution people like Henry Kissinger has made; Madeleine Albright," he said, citing two former secretaries of state. "There's many, many, many people here that have worked within the government and have done an extraordinary job and not have been born in America."
Pressed by Russert on whether he would try to become president if the amendment were adopted, Schwarzenegger at first joked that he would run if he received the support of actor Sylvester Stallone.
He eventually stopped well short of a denial, saying he had "no idea" if he would run.
Hatch's amendment, which was proposed before Schwarzenegger ran for governor, would eliminate the Constitution's requirement that presidents be "natural-born" citizens. In its place, the amendment would establish a rule that presidents must have held citizenship for 20 years. Schwarzenegger became a citizen in September 1983.
In the interview, Schwarzenegger appeared as loose and at ease as a second-term president, kidding Russert about exercise and plugging his movie "Around the World in 80 Days," which is scheduled for release later this year.
"Man, I should look at that, because it sounds really good," he said when Russert first asked him about Hatch's proposal. "I mean, are you going to help me? C'mon, Tim."
