Larry David's Essay Takes Bill Maher to Task

Larry David wrote a satirical essay for the New York Times on Monday in which he envisioned a critic of Adolf Hitler having dinner with the German dictator in 1939 and coming away charmed. A day later, the chatter around the essay is about how David was really writing about Bill Maher's recent dinner with President Trump, reports NBC News.

• What David wrote: "Here I was, prepared to meet Hitler, the one I'd seen and heard—the public Hitler. But this private Hitler was a completely different animal. And oddly enough, this one seemed more authentic, like this was the real Hitler. The whole thing had my head spinning. ... Two hours later, the dinner was over, and the Führer escorted me to the door. 'I am so glad to have met you. I hope I'm no longer the monster you thought I was.' 'I must say, mein Führer, I'm so thankful I came. Although we disagree on many issues, it doesn't mean that we have to hate each other.' And with that, I gave him a Nazi salute and walked out into the night."

• What Maher said: After Maher, who has been a vocal critic of Trump, dined with the president, he said, per Variety: "Everything I've ever not liked about him was—I swear to God—absent, at least on this night with this guy," Maher said. "He mostly steered the conversation to, 'What do you think about this?' I know: Your mind is blown. So is mine."
• Confirmation: Patrick Healy, deputy opinion editor for the New York Times, wrote a short item of his own saying he "understood Larry's intent" in writing the essay. "We had spoken about American politics and how some on the left and in the center think it's important to talk and engage with President Trump. Like many people, Larry listened to Bill Maher talk about his recent dinner with Trump; Bill, a comedian Larry respects, said in a monologue on his Max show that he found the president to be 'gracious and measured' compared with the man who attacks him on Truth Social."
• Footnote: Healy adds that David "is not equating Trump with Hitler." The essay's point is "about seeing people for who they really are and not losing sight of that."

(More Larry David stories.)