Dick Van Dyke dismisses Biden age concerns: I’m 98, and ‘I’ve got all my marbles’
Legendary actor Dick Van Dyke is dismissing concerns about President Biden’s age, saying even though he’s more than a decade older than the commander in chief, he’s still “got all [his] marbles.”
“I’m old enough to be his father,” the “Dick Van Dyke Show” and “Mary Poppins” star said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast, released Thursday, when asked if criticism of the 81-year-old president’s age was “legitimate.”
“I’ve got all my marbles,” the 98-year-old Van Dyke said. “So I’m not worried about it.”
A Gallup poll released Thursday found that 59 percent of respondents said they were very concerned with Biden’s age, compared to 18 percent for former President Trump, who’s 78.
Van Dyke, who supported Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) 2016 and 2020 White House bids, said he’s backing Biden ahead of November.
“I met Joe Biden. And I said, ‘You know, I used to be as tall as you are.’ And he said, ‘I used to have hair like you.’ I liked him right away,” Van Dyke said with a laugh.
Van Dyke recalled once meeting Trump at a party in Malibu, Calif., before the New York real estate developer entered politics.
“He 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?'” the performer told podcast host Scott Feinberg.
“He’s just disturbed,” Van Dyke said of Trump.
Asked what he makes of today’s world, Van Dyke said, “I’m very, very worried. No kidding, in every respect.”
“What’s happening with our weather? No one knows — one hurricane, tornado after another. There seems to be something wrong with people. People, instead of going to the ballot box, are rioting for no reason, and it doesn’t make any difference,” the Tony and Emmy Award winner said.
“Russia is poised along the Ukraine border with nuclear weapons. China has already announced it’s going to take Taiwan back,” he continued.
“I think we are on the verge of maybe the end,” Van Dyke said. “I’m that worried about it.”
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