Dawson's Creek star James Van Der Beek's political rant he posted on Instagram during a morning stroll with his toddler have courted controversy and made him the poster boy for Fox News at the moment. The conservative news-ish opinion network, desperate for a conservative celebrity with even minor relevancy, got their wish when Van Der Beek posted a video harshly criticizing the Democratic National Committee for their lack of primary debates and/or other candidate choices besides Joe Biden for the 2024 presidential race.

Van Der Beek said, “I cannot get over the fact that the Democratic National Committee is saying there will not be a debate to decide the nominee for president.” He continued, “Are you f–king kidding me? There’s no 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?”

 

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What's unclear from the criticism is if Van Der Beek is speaking as a frustrated Democratic voter who would genuinely like some other choices, or a Republican just looking to stir up controversy for the rival party. Or maybe there's another explanation still.

Maybe Van Der Beek was just trying to get his child, who he pushed in a stroller during the whole recording, to fall asleep for his nap. The actor's rather un-nuanced, interminable political meanderings nearly did it for me twenty seconds in, even after two morning cups of coffee.

Or maybe Van Der Beek was just influenced by the popularity of his Dawson's Creek love triangle between himself, Pacey and Joey, and thinks you need more than two main political choices to make for some truly juicy media drama.

Regardless of his motivation, Fox News is banking on James Van Der Beek's words riling up their base and upsetting Democrats so they're sharing the vid like crazy now and asking questions later. Hopefully it doesn't leave them up Dawson's Creek without a paddle.