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Dick Van Dyke says he 'fortunately' won't be around for Trump's second presidency

​​​​​​​View Date:2024-12-23 06:31:32

Dick Van Dyke has some choice words about Donald Trump's second presidential term.

A week after endorsing Trump's opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, the comedy legend replied succinctly to a paparazzo's question of whether the president-elect "is capable of making America great again."

"Fortunately, I won't be around to experience the four years," Van Dyke said in a video shared by the Daily Mail, which showed "The Dick Van Dyke Show" star leaving a car with wife Arlene Silver. The actor turns 99 next month on Dec. 13.

When asked whether America's future looks "bright," Van Dyke replied: "I hope you're right."

On Nov. 4, the day before the election, Van Dyke made a rare social media appearance to announce he was backing Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate. The caption of his post read, "VOTE!!! @kamalaharris @vp @kamalahq."

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In the video, he recited "The Twilight Zone" creator Rod Sterling's "A Most Non-Political Speech," explaining that "I think it means as much today, if not more, than it did then."

"Hatred is not the norm. Prejudice is not the norm. Suspicion, dislike, jealousy, scapegoating, none of those are the transcendent facet of the human personality. They're diseases," Van Dyke read. "They are the cancers of the soul. They are the infectious and contagious viruses that have been breeding humanity for years. And because they have been and because they are, is it necessary that they shall be? I think not."

He continued reading from the speech: "To those who tell us that the inequality of the human animal is a necessary evil, we must respond by simply saying that first, it is evil, but it's not necessary. We prove it by reaffirming our faith. We prove it by having faith in our affirmations."

He added: "Let us be ashamed to live without that victory."

After reading from the speech, Van Dyke added that "a lot's happened" since 1964, and "not as much as Martin Luther dreamed of, but it's a start."

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Van Dyke previously read the speech at a 1964 Religious Witness for Human Dignity event, nearly a year after King gave his "I Have A Dream" speech.

Earlier this year, the "Mary Poppins" star made history as the oldest winner of a Daytime Emmy. He took home a trophy for his guest appearance on "Days of Our Lives."

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Contributing: Taijuan Moorman

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