Sen. Bernie Sanders, the once-laughable candidate for president, has not only done a 180 on the campaign trail with a surge in polls that is shutting out competitor Hillary Clinton, but he’s also rapidly grabbing up endorsements from her core group of followers: the Hollywood and celebrity crowd.
Dick Van Dyke is the latest to jump aboard the self-declared socialist’s bandwagon and release a video of support for Sanders.
On MSNBC, Van Dyke, famous for his starring role in the long-running television comedy series, “The Dick Van Dyke Show,’ as well as for his much-loved portrayal of Bert in “Mary Poppins,” said the country needed Sanders to become president.
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“I haven’t campaigned since Eugene McCarthy,” he said. “Bernie has lit a fire … caught the eye and minds of young people. I think it’s going to happen. We’ve got to put him in the White House.”
He referenced the out-of-control state of banks, Big Business and insurance companies to influence the politics on Capitol Hill and suggested only Sanders could take care of that crisis.
Van Dyke also called Sanders a “New Deal Democrat,” rather than a socialist, and said even if the label socialist were affixed to him, voters wouldn’t care.
“I don’t think young people are bothered so much by that word, socialism,” he said. “It holds a whole different connotation right now, thanks to countries like Sweden.”
Van Dyke sent the video around social media on his Twitter account, along with another one from the Reno Gazette-Journal alongside the text: “WATCH: Dick Van Dyke talks Bernie Sanders and 2016 election.”
“When you’re beside him, the other candidates sound like platitudes and bumper stickers and the same old promises,” he said in that video, responding to criticisms that paint Sanders as un-presidential.
Van Dyke is hardly the only celebrity to back Sanders.
As the Guardian reported, his fellow comedians Will Ferrell and Sarah Silverman have given the senator the thumbs-up. So have comedian Margaret Cho, according to a list of celebrity endorsements posted by the Sanders campaign, on its website. And on the acting side, Sanders’s list of supporters is growing as well. Among his backers: Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito, Zoe Kravitz of one of the “Mad Max” movies, Josh Hutcherson of “Hunger Games” fame, Juliette Lewis, George Wendt, of “Cheers” fame, Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover and actor-producer Jeremy Piven.
And in a major win for the campaign, which has been actively courting the black vote – Sanders, for instance, recently met with Al Sharpton in a New York City restaurant known for its soul food offerings, as WND previously reported – Hollywood director Spike Lee just announced his backing for the senator, as well.
In an radio ad, Lee said, the Hill reported: “Ninety-nine percent of Americans were hurt” by the recent financial crisis, “and that’s why I’m endorsing my brother Bernie Sanders.”
Lee continued, in the 60-second spot: “When Bernie gets into the White House, he will do the right thing. No flipping, no flopping.”
Former NAACP president Ben Jealous gave his backing to Sanders right before the primary voting in South Carolina.
The celebrity endorsements come as Clinton and Sanders have been battling for the lead in the Democratic primary. Clinton, the once-presumed nominee for the party, has been struggling to fight off Sanders and his rapid rise in the polls.
