Carl Reiner, the comedy legend who died Monday at age 98, boasted many awards and accomplishments in his storied career in film and television. But one personal goal eluded him.
Two years ago, Reiner said he hoped stay alive until November 2020 — just long enough to vote Donald Trump out of office. The creator of “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” then 96, released a video in which he urged people to vote in the 2018 midterm elections while sharing his own “personal goal.”
“On Nov. 6, we can vote for elected officials who will hold this president accountable,” Reiner said in the video. “And after we’ve done that, my personal goal will be to stick around until 2020 and vote to make sure we have a decent, moral, law-abiding citizen in Washington who will make us all proud again to live in America.”
What is on my mind will be coming out of my mouth as you watch this: pic.twitter.com/fZkyGg8rlU
— carl reiner (@carlreiner) October 30, 2018
“I’ve seen a lot of things in my lifetime,” Reiner said. “I’ve lived through the Great Depression. I served in World War II in our fight to defeat fascism. I’ve seen the invention of television and performed on television even before my family owned one. But what I’ve never seen is the American people being lied to every single day.”
“In my 96 and a half years, I’ve seen a lot of things, but the one thing I cannot bear to see is America being destroyed by racism, fearmongering and lies,” he continued. “Fortunately, there is something we can do about that. On Nov. 6, we can vote for elected officials who will hold this president accountable.”
“And after we’ve done that, my personal goal will be to stick around to 2020 and vote to make sure we have a decent, moral, law-abiding citizen in Washington who will make us all proud again to live in America,” Reiner said.
An 11-time Emmy winner and 18-time Emmy nominee, Reiner was best known as the creator of “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” which he starred on with Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. He appeared on camera in films like 963’s “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World,” 1966’s “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming” and the “Ocean’s Eleven” trilogy.
He also directed big-screen comedy hits like 1977’s “Oh, God!” the 1979 Steve Martin comedy “The Jerk” and the 1993 thriller spoof “Fatal Instinct.”