Dick Van Dyke declared his support for Kamala Harris in the final hour before Tuesday’s vote. Making a rare appearance on social media Monday, the 98-year-old actor endorsed the Democratic nominee in a dramatic black-and-white video. “VOTE!!!” the veteran actor captioned his Instagram post, tagging the vice president and her official campaign account.
Dick Van Dyke endorses Kamala Harris for president
“Hi! I’m Dick Van Dyke,” the Marry Poppins actor began. “You may remember I used to sing and dance and fall down a lot, actually,” quipped Dyke, who is set to turn 99 in December. With an optimistic look on his face, the six-time Emmy Award winner recalled his appearance alongside Martin Luther King “50 years ago.”
“May 31st, 1964 — I was on the podium with Dr. Martin Luther King, who was addressing some 60,000 people in the Colosseum in LA, and I was there to read a message written by Rod Serling, the guy who wrote Twilight Zone,” Dyke recalled. “I got it out the other day, and I think it means as much today — if not more — than it did then, so if you don’t mind, I’d like to read it,” he added.
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Putting on his reading glasses, the Night at the Museum star began reading a short section of the original address, which Serling titled at the time, “A Most Non-Political Speech.” “Hatred is not the norm. Prejudice is not the norm. Suspicion, dislike, jealousy [and] scapegoating…. none of those are the transcendent facets of the human personality,” he said.
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Continuing his recital, Dyke noted that there is “essential decency,” “basic goodness” and “preeminent dignity” in everyone. “There will be moments of violence and expressions of hatred and an ugly echo of intolerance, but these are the clinging vestiges of a decayed past, not the harbingers of the better, cleaner future,” he continued.
The Golden Globe winner closed out his speech with a quote by Horace Mann, “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity. I’d like to paraphrase that tonight. ‘Let us be ashamed to live without that victory.’” “It’s not what Martin Luther King dreamed of, but it’s a start. Thank you, and God bless,” Dyke concluded.