The multitalented actor, dancer, comedian, and star of stage and screen Dick Van Dyke was born on Dec. 13, 2025, which means that on Saturday, he celebrated his one-hundredth birthday. “You know,” he said Friday, “I played old men a lot. And I always played ’em as angry, and cantankerous. It’s not really that way.” In his case, it really isn’t, which is as striking as his longevity: Dick Van Dyke, after all, is very likely the world’s oldest Bernie Bro, even older than Bernie himself, and so one would expect him to be as angry, self-righteous, and arrogant as leftists are today. And while he is to a degree, his good-natured personality can’t help but keep breaking through. That’s not to say, however, that he has any political wisdom remotely commensurate with his years.
Back in Feb. 2020, when he was a comparatively callow 94 years old, Van Dyke released a video in which he announced: “I’m Dick Van Dyke and I’m very enthusiastic supporter of Bernie Sanders.” This was sad to see, coming from a man whom so many of us had come to love for his work on The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mary Poppins, Bye Bye Birdie, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the rest.
After all, celebrity endorsements may not be as powerful or vote-getting as those who rely on them wish they were, but they wouldn’t be a recurring phenomenon of our political culture at all if they were completely ineffective. People naturally want to be on the same side as those whom they love and admire, and so celebrity endorsements will likely be with us for as long as there are celebrities.
In his endorsement of Bernie Sanders, the old man spent a great deal of time exhorting his generation to get out and vote for Bernie. He needn’t have wasted any time on that at all: most of the people of Dick Van Dyke’s generation are dead, which means that they already vote Democratic on a regular basis.
What was worst about Dick Van Dyke’s endorsement of Bernie was its uncritical repetition of hysterical leftist talking points. “This election,” he said, referring to 2020, “I think is probably the most important one since the end of World War II. Another four years of the current administration and we won’t have a democracy anymore.” Yeah, so vote for the guy who ended up stealing the election. That was good for “our democracy,” all right.
Van Dyke went on to warn that if Trump were reelected, we would get “four more years of no concern about the climate.” Yes, he said that as if it were a bad thing. He continued: “We must get him out of there. Democratic principles are flying out the window. He has assumed authority beyond what the president is allowed, and he’s going to get worse.” Uh huh. Now tell us, Dick, about Biden working with the social media giants to silence dissidents.
Flying from subject to subject with the litheness of the dancer he used to be, Van Dyke went on, referring to Bernie Sanders: “The fact that we are the only country that doesn’t have universal health care — that’s shameful, and the fact that it’s more expensive than anywhere — that he’ll do something about, I’m sure.” Yes. One shudders to think what Bernie would have done to health care if he had gotten the chance.
Dick Van Dyke has not softened in his view of Trump. When the president was reelected, Van Dyke said: “Fortunately I won’t be around to experience the four years.” Of Trump, he said: “He’s just disturbed,” apparently because Orange Man Bad didn’t seem to recognize him. When they met, says Van Dyke, Trump “was in a Hawaiian shirt, open, big belly all nice and tan, a couple of gold chains hanging around his neck and a blonde on his arm — I’ll be charitable and say she was 20. And he looked down at me like, ‘Who are you?’” Van Dyke added: “I’m very, very worried. No kidding, in every respect.”
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Still, for all his enthusiastic leftism, Dick Van Dyke is hard to dislike. Throughout his long career, he seldom made political statements, and seemed to radiate a good cheer that was extremely winning, although it was no indication of any political acumen.
In any case, now he is 100 years old, and living through the second term of Trump that he hoped he would miss by dying. He doesn’t, of course, realize all the miseries of the socialism he embraces, and would largely have been spared them, given his fame and wealth, and the privilege that comes with both. And so happy 100th birthday, Mr. Van Dyke, and thank you for all your marvelous comedic work. That was your area of expertise. Not politics.
At the beginning of the Dick Van Dyke Show, Dick Van Dyke took a big pratfall over an ottoman. That was, as it turns out, kind of a metaphor for his political opinions. Get the truth of things: Become a VIP member today — get all our content and none of the ads. Use code FIGHT for 60% off.
