Dick Van Dyke surprised his fans with a rare social media appearance on Monday when he shared his endorsement in the 2024 presidential race, just one day before Tuesday’s election.
The 98-year-old acting icon, who recently sparked concerns after he was forced to cancel his first appearance outside of Los Angeles in months, addressed the camera in a black and white clip shared on his Instagram page.
The Mary Poppins star compared today’s race and political climate to that of 1964 while reading a speech she originally gave at an event with Martin Luther King Jr.
Van Dyke, who will celebrate his 99th birthday on December 13, was still full of vigor and passion as he recited the speech in a strong voice.
Although her speech did not mention either Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump by name, the star of stage and screen made it clear that she supported Harris by tagging her personal account, Harris’ campaign account, and the account official of the vice president. president.
A vigorous Dick Van Dyke, 98, made a rare appearance on social media Monday to lend his endorsement in the 2024 presidential election.
Although his speech did not mention either Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump, Van Dyke made it clear that he supported Harris by tagging their Instagram accounts in his caption; Harris is pictured Monday in Rankin, Pennsylvania.
“You may remember that I used to sing, dance and fall – a lot of times, actually,” Van Dyke introduced himself playfully while wearing a casual polo shirt and sporting his now customary snow-white beard.
“Fifty years ago, on May 31, 1964, I was at the podium with Dr. Martin Luther King, who was addressing some 60,000 people at the Los Angeles Coliseum, and I was there to read a message written by Rod Serling.” , said. , referring to the creator and scribe of Twilight Zone.
“I put it out the other day and I think it means just as much today, if not more, than it did then, so if you don’t mind, I’d like to read it,” he continued.
Van Dyke put on a pair of reading glasses as he began reading the speech.
‘Hate is not the norm. Prejudice is not the norm. Suspicions, dislikes, jealousy (and) search for scapegoats…. None of those are the transcendent facets of human personality,’ he began.
‘They are diseases. They are cancers of the soul. “They are the infectious and contagious viruses that have been breeding humanity for years,” he said as he read the words of Serling, known for his liberal politics, which included his support for anti-war politicians and his devotion to the fight against racism. in his personal life as well as in his allegorical scripts for The Twilight Zone and other television series.
‘And because they have been and because they are, is it necessary that they be?’ Van Dyke asked. “I don’t think so.”
He added that as long as there was ‘a voice left to say ‘welcome’ to a stranger’, ‘a hand extended to say ‘come in and share” and ‘a mind to think a thought of warmth and friendship,’ then there was still hope for the collective soul of humanity.
Van Dyke added—through Serling’s words—that the nation was still animated by an “essential decency,” a “basic goodness,” and a “preeminent dignity” that ran through its citizens.
Van Dyke read a speech originally written for him in 1964 by Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling.
The speech described “hate” and “prejudice” as “cancers of the soul,” while adding that the nation was still animated by an “essential decency.”
Van Dyke said he gave the speech as an introduction to a 1964 appearance by Martin Luther King Jr.; photographed in 1964
However, the speech also noted that Americans have repeatedly failed to live up to the nation’s highest ideals.
“There will be moments of violence and expressions of hate and an unpleasant echo of intolerance, but these are the lingering vestiges of a decadent past, not the harbingers of a better, cleaner future,” Van Dyke warned, echoing the language of many anti -Trump figures.
‘To those who tell us that the inequality of the human animal is a necessary evil, we must respond simply by saying that, in the first place, it is an evil, but it is No “It’s necessary,” the Dick Van Dyke Show star said. ‘We demonstrated it, sitting here tonight in 1964. We demonstrated it by reaffirming our faith. We prove it by having faith in our claims.’
Van Dyke concluded by rewriting a quote from abolitionist and U.S. Representative Horace Mann, who died two years before the start of the American Civil War.
“Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity,” he quoted. —I’d like to paraphrase that tonight. “Let us be ashamed to live without that victory.”
After concluding the decades-old speech, Van Dyke noted that “a lot has happened” to improve America since he first opened King’s rally with that speech, but added that there is still much to be done to create a better nation. strong. .
“It’s not what Martin Luther King dreamed of, but it’s a start,” he said, ending on a note of optimism. ‘Thank you and God bless you.’
Most of Van Dyke’s message was contained in his passionate video, but he added “VOTE!!!” in her caption, along with her tags for Harris and her campaign.
“It’s not what Martin Luther King dreamed of, but it’s a start,” he said, ending on a note of optimism.
Van Dyke will turn 99 in December. He is best known for starring alongside Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins (pictured) and for directing the Dick Van Dyke show of the same name.
She joins a group of celebrities who have shared their support for Harris in recent days, including several stars who spoke out against an anti-Puerto Rican joke made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at Donald Trump’s recent rally at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. .
After President Joe Biden called Trump supporters “trash,” in what he later insisted was just a reference to Hinchcliffe, the former president and his supporters seized the moment to try to spin the controversy to attack the campaign. of Harris staging a photograph. Op in which Trump posed in a garbage truck.
However, the strategy may have backfired, as Trump was widely mocked on social media due to a video that showed him swinging and having difficulty opening the truck door before finally getting in.
Ironically, the move may have caused more damage to Trump. According HuffPostSome Puerto Rican and Latino voters interpreted the photo op with the garbage truck as a new dig at them, instead of seeing it as an ironic shot at Biden and Harris.