Dick Van Dyke has made a rare social media appearance to pledge his support to Kamala Harris in the US Presidential race.
The 98-year-old actor took to social media to back the Democratic Party candidate, in her bid to win the election over Donald Trump on Tuesday (05.11.24), by recalling a speech he delivered alongside Martin Luther King Jr. at a 1964 civil rights event.
He wrote on Instagram: "VOTE!!! @kamalaharris @vp @kamalahq (sic)"
The 'Mary Poppins' star also said in the black and white clip: "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."
Dick 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."
As well as insisting everyone has elements of "essential decency", "basic goodness" and "preeminent dignity" about them, he added: "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.
"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 is not necessary.
"We prove it, sitting here tonight in 1964. We prove it by affirming our faith. We prove it by having faith in our affirmations."
The 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' actor then read out a quote from Horace Mann.
He said: "Be ashamed to die unless you have won some victory for humanity. I’d like to paraphrase that tonight. 'Let us be ashamed to live without that victory.' "
The star then said: "1964. A lot has happened. Not so much as Martin Luther [King] dreamed of, but it’s a start. Thank you."
As well as Dick, several other stars have endorsed Harris, including Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts and Bruce Springsteen.
Hulk Hogan, Elon Musk, Kid Rock, Mel Gibson and Buzz Aldrin are among the celebrities who have backed Trump.
