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Sunday, Oct. 5, 2003

The Oakland Tribune withdrew its endorsement of Schwarzenegger on Saturday, saying the sexual harassment allegations indicate "a pattern of recurring abuse and boorish behavior that in different circumstances could have led to assault charges."

"By no stretch of the imagination can his groping and grabbing on 'rowdy movie sets' be dismissed as an isolated incident," the newspaper said.

But the Austrian-born bodybuilding champion and actor also got jolt of support from his home country Saturday in response to other allegations that he had made statements that were admiring of Nazi leader Adolph Hitler.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Schwarzenegger's former Austrian trainer, gym owner Kurt Marnul, described how the young bodybuilder in the 1960s had used his menacing muscular physique to help break up neo-Nazi rallies at least twice near his hometown of Graz.

Marnul, 74, said he had told Schwarzenegger how he had seen Hitler's soldiers kill three people during World War II. Schwarzenegger had reacted with shock and anger, he said.

"He was so outraged -- so filled with rage against the Nazi regime," Marnul said.

The allegations of groping and Hitler-lauding that surfaced Thursday and Friday have threatened to engulf the Republican actor's gubernatorial campaign, which has been leading in the polls. Women's groups and religious leaders on Friday vowed an all-out effort to stop him.

ABC News and The New York Times had carried statements Thursday attributed to Schwarzenegger in 1975 during the filming of the bodybuilding documentary "Pumping Iron." Schwarzenegger was said to have told an interviewer that he admired Hitler's rise to power and wished he could have experienced the thrill the Nazi leader must have had holding sway over huge audiences.

The news organizations said the remarks were contained in transcripts from a book proposal made by "Pumping Iron" director George Butler. On Friday, Butler, in a statement issued by the Schwarzenegger campaign, said the remarks were taken out of context or inaccurately quoted.

He added that he does not have the "Pumping Iron" outtakes, but said the transcripts show that earlier in the interview Schwarzenegger said that in Germany "they used power and authority but it was used in the wrong way."

Schwarzenegger reiterated Friday that he could not imagine saying anything positive about Hitler. The actor added that his father, a member of the Nazi party, never discussed what he did during World War II.

Wants to Apologize

He also spoke of the growing number of women accusing him of sexual harassment in past years, saying he felt badly that they hadn't confronted him so he could have apologized. Schwarzenegger acknowledged Thursday that he had treated some women badly.

On Saturday, he resumed his bus campaign across the state, traveling through central California's heartland.

Gov. Gray Davis, fighting to save his job, was traveling the state by plane, accompanied by big-name Democrats including Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, Rep. Nancy Pelosi and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

The leading Democrat in the race to replace Davis, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, spoke Saturday to supporters at a union hall in San Diego, telling them he was optimistic he would finish first among the 135 replacement candidates but wouldn't be taking office because the governor would not be recalled.

"I believe that this race is a real horse race," Bustamante said. "I think we have a real possibility of beating the recall and Bustamante winning on election day."

In West Los Angeles, leaders of Jewish, black and Muslim community groups called a news conference Friday to denounce Schwarzenegger.

"There is a chance that a man who admires Adolf Hitler could be the next governor of California," said Scott Svonkin, Southern California chairman of the B'nai B'rith Center for Public Policy.

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

She was one of several women -- including radio psychologist Dr. Joy Browne -- to come forward Friday with new allegations Schwarzenegger groped or made inappropriate comments to them. Browne told "Inside Edition" that Schwarzenegger groped her ankles and knees during an interview in the 1970s.

The Los Angeles Times quoted six women on Thursday who said Schwarzenegger had groped or sexually harassed them during separate incidents between 1975 and 2000.

In a report for Saturday editions, the Times said three more women came forward Friday with allegations the actor grabbed or groped them. The actor's campaign denied two of the claims -- alleged incidents on the set of the 1988 movie "Twins" -- and would not comment on the third.

"No one confronted me," Schwarzenegger said Friday. "If someone comes to me and says, `How dare you do this, how dare you say this,' I can apologize right then and there."

© 2003 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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