Living entertainment legend Dick Van Dyke has been an active presence in the media despite being 98 years old.
Just this summer, the almost centenarian won a historic Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series at the 51st Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony for his performance as amnesiac Timothy Robicheaux on Peacock’s Days of Our Lives.
The U.S. Army Air Forces veteran, who worked as a radio announcer and entertainer during World War II, also used his voice to influence voters on social media by endorsing Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
Now that Donald Trump won a landslide victory to become President-elect for a second non-consecutive term, Van Dyke shared his darkly humorous response about Trump's White House comeback.
The Daily Mail recently caught up with the Mary Poppins star after he was spotted stepping out at a parking garage with his wife, Arlene Silver, 52.
When they asked his thoughts on the election results favoring a convicted felon over a prosecutor, Van Dyke implied he would rather die than endure another four years with Trump in the Oval Office.
Van Dyke, who turns 99 in a month, said he was grateful he "won't be around" to experience the next four years under another administration led by the twice-impeached ex-President.
When the media outlet asked him, "Does the future look bright for America?," he responded, "I hope you're right!"
And when asked if Trump was "capable of making America great again," Van Dyke quipped:
"Fortunately I won't be around to experience the four years."
Fans appreciated the levity.
While social media users acknowledged the inevitability of death, they still didn't want the beloved Hollywood icon, who has been such a light and beacon of hope, to leave us anytime soon.
Last week, a day before the election, Van Dyke endorsed Harris for President.
He marked the occasion by re-reading a speech that he delivered at a 1964 civil rights event with Martin Luther King Jr.
"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 told fans in the black and white video message.
The speech, written by Twilight Zone scribe Rod Serling, expressed how “Hatred is not the norm."
He continued, reading Serling's speech from a sheet of paper that read, in part:
"Prejudice is not the norm. Suspicion, dislike, jealousy [and] 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."
"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," Van Dyke warned.
He added:
“To those who tell us the inequality of the human animal is a necessary evil, we must respond by simply saying that first, it is evil, but not necessary."
Van Dyke concluded the video by reflecting on May 31st, 1964, the day he stood on a podium with King, who addressed a crowd of 60,000 people at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 50 years ago.
“1964. A lot has happened. Not so much as Martin Luther [King] dreamed of, but it’s a start," said Van Dyke.
You can see his video message here.
While he didn't mention either candidate in the 2024 election by name, he captioned his video message with the word "VOTE!!!" and tagged the Kamala Harris Headquarters account.
