Larry David Takes Aim at Bill Maher’s Trump Meeting in Scathing Essay
In a biting guest essay published in the New York Times, titled "My Dinner With Adolf," Curb Your Enthusiasm star Larry David launched a thinly veiled attack on talk-show host Bill Maher over his recent meeting with Donald Trump. The piece, which recounts a fictional dinner with Adolf Hitler in 1939, has been interpreted as a scathing critique of Maher’s defence of his own meeting with the former US President.
According to the Independent, David’s essay never once mentions Maher’s name, but the target of his criticism is clear. The New York Times piece echoes many of Maher’s comments about his meeting with Trump, which he recounted on his HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher late last month. As the Independent previously reported, Maher described himself as an erstwhile Trump critic, and claimed that he had been "predicting everything he was going to do on the road to dictatorship" (Independent, "Bill Maher Defends Meeting with Donald Trump on Real Time").
In the essay, David writes that he had been a vocal critic of Hitler, but eventually concluded that "hate gets us nowhere." He claims that he wanted to talk to the other side, "even if it has invaded and annexed other countries and committed unspeakable crimes against humanity." The Independent notes that this sentiment is strikingly similar to Maher’s defence of his meeting with Trump, which was arranged by Kid Rock.
David’s Hitler is surprisingly "quite disarming," according to the essay, and he writes that he "realized I’d never seen him laugh before." He adds that, in that moment, Hitler "seemed so human." The Independent observes that Maher also bragged about getting Trump to laugh, saying that he had "never seen him laugh in public. But he does. At himself. And it’s not fake."
The Independent notes that David’s essay is a clear rebuke to Maher’s gushing comments about his meeting with Trump. Maher assured that he discovered a "crazy person doesn’t live in the White House, [just] a person who plays a crazy person on TV a lot lives there, which I know is fed up. It’s just not as fed up as I thought it was." Kid Rock, who helped arrange the meeting between Maher and Trump, said that the talk-show host’s head was "spinning" after his get-together with Trump.
David concludes his essay by telling Hitler that he was glad he met him, and that while they can still disagree, "we don’t have to hate each other." In a parting jab, he writes that he gave Hitler a Nazi salute and walked out into the night. The Independent understands that this is a clear reference to Maher’s own comments about his meeting with Trump.
The Independent has contacted Larry David’s representatives for comment. Meanwhile, Bill Maher has not publicly responded to David’s essay. The New York Times piece has sparked a heated debate about the merits of engaging with controversial figures, and the Independent will continue to provide updates on this story as it develops.
In a statement to the Independent, a spokesperson for The New York Times said: "The New York Times is committed to publishing a wide range of opinions and perspectives. This essay is part of that effort." The Independent will continue to monitor the reaction to David’s essay and provide updates as necessary.
Sources:
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/larry-david-bill-maher-adolf-hitler-essay-b2737011.html
The New York Times
