James Van Der Beek’s Anti-Biden TikTok Rant Makes More Sense If You Know His Wife

Somewhere on the outskirts of Austin, Texas, on a sprawling country compound, a 46-year-old man whom time has robbed of his charm took to TikTok on Monday to share his thoughts on democracy. Normally, this sort of behavior would go, as it should, unnoticed. But the man—who made the choice in the video to walk backwards down his driveway as he bloviated—was no ordinary man; he was former teen heartthrob James Van Der Beek, aka Dawson of Dawson’s Creek.

In the video, Van Der Beek chastises the Democratic National Committee’s decision to unanimously back Biden for re-election and not hold a preliminary debate. “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?”

Now, criticism of the DNC’s decision to not schedule debates with other Democratic candidates like Marianne Williamson and RFK Jr. has been vocalized on the left, as well—former Ohio state senator Nina Turned said the compromise is “undemocratic and robs the voters of choice”—so Van Der Beek’s objection to the DNC alone doesn’t put him in the fringe. But the actor’s flirtation with the anti-vaxxer/covid-denier communities (including being married to one), in addition to his comments about Biden’s mental state, certainly work to tilt the scale in that direction.

Allow me to introduce the uninitiated to Kimberly Van Der Beek, the actor’s influencer wife, who has a well-documented (influencers always do, don’t they?) history of anti-vaccine sentiments. In January 2022, Rolling Stone published a deep dive on her and her husband’s ties to Austin’s wellness circles 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.

Covid conspiracies and anti-Biden sentiment coming from a blonde, blue-eyed former teen heartthrob who’s eschewed Hollywood for the simplicity of “real America”? It’s like catnip for Fox News. And it took them just over a day to pick up the clip and discuss it on Fox & Friends.

“I watched this video,” self-described “radical moderate” (lol) political analyst Clay Travis said on the show. “I was like this guy deserves to be sitting on a panel analyzing everything that’s going on right now.” Dubious politics aside, Van Der Beek’s video is your run-of-the-mill diatribe by the heretic in your Political Science 101 class, complete with the well-timed smirks that work to say, “Don’t hate me for saying it like it is!”

Never mind the fact that their god Donald Trump is also considering skipping GOP primary debates and did in fact refuse to participate in a debate against Biden leading up to the 2020 election. Of course, I’m not holding my breath waiting for this network to not be hypocritical.

I don’t know why Fox News is so impressed over this, other than VDB’s fame. Give half a six pack to any libertarian uncle at Thanksgiving and you’re getting this exact same spiel. But ya know, good for them for adding another government-skeptical celeb to their roster.