Beverly Hills, Calif. ? Women’s groups and religious leaders worked feverishly Friday to galvanize opposition to Arnold Schwarzenegger, who found a defender in the man whose book proposal quoted the actor expressing admiration for Adolf Hitler.

The Republican gubernatorial candidate reiterated Friday that he despises Hitler. Media in his native country of Austria, meanwhile, reported that the action star helped break up a neo-Nazi march there when he was a teenager.

Schwarzenegger, trying to replace Gov. Gray Davis if voters recall him Tuesday, also spoke of the growing number of women accusing him of sexual harassment, saying he felt bad that they hadn’t confronted him so he could have apologized.

Schwarzenegger, who leads in recent polls for Tuesday’s recall election to replace Gov. Gray Davis, acknowledged Thursday that he had treated some women badly.

ABC News and The New York Times reported on statements attributed to the action star in 1975, during the filming of the bodybuilding documentary “Pumping Iron.” He was said to have told an interviewer 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.

Butler, in a statement issued Friday by the Schwarzenegger campaign, said the book proposal contained a disclaimer saying certain statements “should not be taken as fact until verified.”

Demonstrators from various women's groups protest in front of Republican gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign headquarters in Santa Monica, Calif., during a statewide day of protest. Women's groups and religious leaders worked feverishly Friday to galvanize opposition to Arnold Schwarzenegger after he acknowledged treating women badly.