Dick Van Dyke, 98, Endorses Kamala Harris in Rare Appearance Hours Before Election Day
Hours before election day, Vice President Kamala Harris received another bombshell celebrity endorsement from Dick Van Dyke.
In a rare appearance at the age of 98, the legendary actor made the surprise endorsement via a YouTube video posted on Monday, November 4, just one day before Election Day.
Instead of listing the reasons why he will cast his vote for the Democratic ticket, he read an excerpt from a speech he delivered at the Multi-Faith Civil Rights Rally in May 1964 in Los Angeles with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The event was held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and preceded the the Civil Rights Act passage that same summer.
"1964. A lot has happened. Not so much as Martin Luther [King] dreamed of, but it's a start," he said. "I got it out the other day, and I think it means as much today if not more."
"Hatred is not the norm," he read from 'Twilight Zone' creator Rod Serling's speech. "Prejudice is not the norm. Suspicion, dislike, jealousy, scapegoating, none of those are the transcendent facet of the human personality. They are diseases. They are the cancers of the soul. They are the infectious and contagious viruses that have been breeding humanity for years. But because they have been and because they are, is it necessary that they shall be? I think not."
"To those who tell us the inequality of the human animal is a necessary evil, we must respond by simply saying that first, it is evil, but not necessary," Van Dyke read.
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The 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' star added "if there is one voice left to say 'welcome' to a stranger, if there is one hand outstretched to say 'enter and share,' if there is one mind remaining to think a thought of warmth and friendship, then there's a future in which we will find more than one hand, more than one voice, and more than one mind dedicated to the cause of man's equality."
He also reposted the video on Twitter, now called X, with the caption: "VOTE!!!," tagging Harris in the post, as well as his official Instagram account.
This isn't the first time Van Dyke has publicly endorsed a political candidate.
Four years ago, he backed Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2020 primary and even sung at one of his rallies.