14 November 2024
Dick Van Dyke is relieved he "won't be around" for Donald Trump's second term as US president.
Dick Van Dyke isn't optimistic about Donald Trump's second term as US president
The 'Mary Poppins' actor, 98, has admitted that he is glad that he is unlikely to live through the full duration of Trump's return to office after endorsing Democrat candidate Kamala Harris in the lead-up to last week's election.
In a video published by the Daily Mail, Van Dyke was stopped in a car park and was asked: "Does the future look bright for America?"
He replied: "I hope you're right."
The Hollywood legend was then asked: "Do you think Donald Trump is capable of making America great again?"
He answered: "Fortunately I won't be around to experience the four years."
Van Dyke made a rare appearance on social media prior to the election to pledge his support to Harris as he remembered a speech he made alongside Martin Luther King Jr. at a civil rights event in 1964.
He said in a clip posted on Instagram: "Hi! I’m Dick Van Dyke. You may remember I used to sing and dance and fall down a lot, actually.
"Fifty years ago - May 31st, 1964 - I was on the podium with Dr. Martin Luther King, who was addressing some of the 60,000 people in the Colosseum in LA.
"I was there to read a message written by Rod Serling, the guy who wrote 'The Twilight Zone'.
"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."
Van Dyke then read a short section of the full speech, entitled 'A Most Non-Political Speech'.
He read: "Hatred is not the norm. Prejudice is not the norm. Suspicion, dislike, jealousy, scapegoating, none of those are the transcendent facets 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.
"And because they have been and because they are, is it necessary that they shall be? I think not.
"As long as there is one voice left to say ‘welcome’ to a stranger, one hand outstretched to say ‘enter and share,’ and one mind remaining to think a thought of warmth and friendship, then there is still hope for humanity."
English (US) ·