Dick Van Dyke, 98, Who Once Shared Podium with MLK Jr., Makes Rare Appearance to Encourage Voting: 'Hatred Is Not the Norm'

Mar. 15, 2025

Dick Van Dyke, Martin Luther King Jr.Photo:Dick Van Dyke/Instagram; FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty

Dick Van Dyke/Instagram; FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty

Dick Van Dyketook a trip down memory lane to mark Election Day.

The actor, 98, shared a video onInstagramon Monday, Nov. 4 — the day before the presidential election — to encourage his followers to vote for Democrat candidateKamala Harris.

He then said he pulled the speech out “the other day” and thinks it “means as much today, if not more, than it did then.”

The actor continued, “So if you don’t mind, I’d like to read it.”

Van Dyke began to read the speech, which started with, “Hatred is not the norm. Prejudice is not the norm. Suspicion, dislike, jealousy [and] scapegoating, none of those are the transcendent facet of the human personality. They’re diseases. They are the cancers of the soul.”

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The six-time Emmy winner continued to discourage the negative feelings, saying, “They are the infectious and contagious viruses that have been bleeding humanity for years. And because they have been, and because they are, is it necessary that they shall be? I think not.”

Dick Van Dyke at a rally in 1968.Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Speaking optimistically, Van Dyke said, “If there is one voice left to say ‘welcome’ to a stranger,  if there is one hand outstretched to say ‘enter and share,’ if there’s one mind remaining to think a thought of warmth and friendship, then there’s a future in which we will find more than one hand, more than one person, more than one mind, dedicated to the cause of man’s equality.”

Dick Van Dyke at the 2024 Creative Arts Emmy Awards.JC Olivera/Variety via Getty

JC Olivera/Variety via Getty

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Van Dyke has been keeping a low profile as of late. In September, hecanceled an appearanceat the FanX Salt Lake City Comic Convention in Utah days after being absent from the2024 Emmy Awards, where he wasscheduled to be a presenter. He was spotted outrunning errands in Malibuthat same month, not long afterwinning a Daytime Emmyand watching his birthday specialwin a Creative Arts Emmy Award.

source: people.com