James Van Der Beek Posted An Anti-Biden TikTok Rant, And Fox News Loved It
Back in 2020, James Van Der Beek left Beverly Hills for Texas. Since then, Dawson Leery and his “influencer” wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, have been living on a country compound just outside of Austin with their six kids. The couple enjoys fishing, hiking, growing their own vegetables, and peddling anti-government/anti-vaxx conspiracy theories.
According to Jezebel, James and Kimberly’s beliefs have been out there for a while, but this week, James went viral for a TikTok criticizing the Democratic National Committee’s decision to back Joe Biden for re-election without a preliminary debate. 47-year-old James says having no debate is “undemocratic” and goes after 80-year-old Biden’s “obviously declining mental faculties.” Yesterday, Fox News discovered the rant, and presenter Clay Travis, a self-described “radical moderate” (he voted for Trump in 2020, so, um…), declared that James “deserves to be sitting on a panel analyzing everything that’s going on right now!” James Van Der Beek… political analyst? Hey, it’s not like his acting career is going anywhere.
James begins his TikTok with, “Are you fucking kidding me? There’s no debate?” He continues. via Jezebel:
“There’s no debate over an 80-year-old man who, if he lives, will be the oldest sitting president in the history of the country, and if he doesn’t live has a vice president whose approval rating is worse than his? This guy has obviously declining mental faculties, you’re putting him up in front of a podium with flash cards telling him who to call on and what the questions are gonna be, and you’re telling us there’s no debate? What about the will of the people?”
James goes on to say that if there’s no debate, America is not a democracy “for the people”, it’s a democracy for “big banks, big business, big tech, big pharma, big government, big whatever.” He adds that it’s hypocritical for any member of the DNC to make a Memorial Day post thanking the troops for defending democracy. Here’s the TikTok:
James Van der Beek is married to a vocal anti-vaxxer and has been photographed hanging out with prominent conspiracy theorist/transphobe JP Sears and his wife Amber. It is not at all surprising he’d platform conspiracy theories about Biden or accuse Dems of being anti-democratic. pic.twitter.com/ksdAiMk2u9
— Ej Dickson (@ejdickson) May 31, 2023
And here’s Fox News’ reaction. Please note, the first half of this video is dedicated to James Van Der Beek, and the second half is shitting on “woke Disney” for having a “mustached fairy godmother” greeting little girls and their families at a Disneyland boutique:
Jezebel’s Kady Ruth Ashcraft points out that criticism over the DNC’s decision “has been vocalized on the left, as well,” so James’ rant doesn’t necessarily “put him in the fringe.” But he and his wife Kimberly’s affiliation with Austin’s so-called “wellness circles” does. Back in January 2022, Rolling Stone published a deep dive on the couple’s ties to groups that “tend to promote anti-vaccine, anti-government mandate beliefs masked as an embrace of holistic health”:
Kimberly has platformed articles that suggest autism is caused by vaccines, supported Jessica Biel’s anti-vaccine lobbying alongside RFK Jr. (interesting) and shared posts that falsely reported rapper DMX’s death to be linked to the covid vaccine. Together, the couple has attended events hosted by anti-vaxxer and covid conspiracist Joyous Heart.
The Rolling Stone article notes that James and Kimberly were part of a “larger cadre of celebrities and influencers” who relocated to Austin during the pandemic. Celebs like Jamie-Lynn Sigler (oh no, not Meadow!) and Haylie Duff (there’s speculation that Haylie’s politics are the reason for the rift between her and her sister Hilary Duff). As the tweet above points out, James and Kimberly have been photographed hanging out with conservative “comedian and freedom fighter” JP Sears and his wife, Amber. And guess what? In addition to being anti-mask, anti-vaccine, and anti-“woke,” JP and Amber are big ol’ transphobes!
So there ya go. James Van Der Beek is an anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist who hangs out with transphobes. On the bright side, at least it wasn’t Pacey.
Pic: Famous/ACE PICTURES/INSTARimages.com