Dick Van Dyke, 98, endorsed the Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on Monday in a message posted across social media. In a video on YouTube, the legendary actor, comedian, and performer did not talk about why he was endorsing the vice president—instead opting to read an excerpt from a speech he delivered at the 1964 Multi-Faith Civil Rights Rally in Los Angeles with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., just months before Congress passed the Civil Rights Act that July. During the rally, Van Dyke read a speech written by Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling. “I got it out the other day, and I think it means as much today if not more,” Van Dyke said. “Hatred is not the norm,” he read from 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.” Although the nonagenarian actor has stepped out of the spotlight in recent years, he has used his platform to endorse progressive candidates in the past—backing Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2020 primary and even singing at one of his rallies. “1964—a lot’s happened, not so much as Martin Luther [King Jr.] dreamed of, but it’s a start,” Van Dyke said on Monday.
