Legendary actor Dick Van Dyke has reacted in disdain to Donald Trump’s second-term presidential win after previously endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Mary Poppins star, who turns 99 next month, was recently out and about with his 52-year-old wife, Arlene Silver, when he was approached by a reporter and asked if he thought the future looked bright for America.
“I hope you’re right,” Dyke can be heard telling the reporter in a clip published by The Daily Mail.
When asked if he thinks Trump is capable of making America great again, the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang actor quipped: “Fortunately, I won’t be around to experience the four years.”
The former Dick Van Dyke Show star’s grim response comes shortly after he announced he would be voting for Harris.
“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,” he said in a video posted to his YouTube channel.
While encouraging his fans to also vote for Harris, he went on to recite a speech he once read alongside the great activist and minister.
“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,” Dyke began. “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.”
The actor continued, saying there is “essential decency,” “basic goodness” and “preeminent dignity” in everyone.
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“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 added.
In conclusion, he paraphrased a quote from Horace Mann, saying: “Let us be ashamed to live without that victory.”
Dyke joins a slew of other celebrities who are outraged by the President-elect’s historic victory.
“Heartbroken,” One Tree Hill star Sophia Bush posted on Instagram: “Great job giving the MAGA gang more power, America. Wonder how many folks are seeing this and STILL saying ‘But but but at least he’s not a Black woman!’ in the privacy of their homes tonight.”
“Supreme Court gone for the rest of my lifetime. Ultra-conservative evangelical bigotry, xenophobia, racism is the mandate,” tweeted Glee alum Kevin McHale.
While addressing the claims of sexual assault levied against Trump, Riverdale star Lili Reinhart added: “I cannot fathom the feeling of the women who came forward about their sexual assault at the hands of Trump. Seeing millions of people vote for their abuser. My heart, absolutely, breaks for these women. I believe you, and I am so sorry.”
Meanwhile, Trump supporters, including influencer-turned-professional boxer Jake Paul, celebrated the Republican party’s triumph, calling it “a massive step in the right direction to heal the major issues going on in the world currently.”