Comedian on comedian violence over a dinner with Donald Trump. Larry David is using his pen to point out what he sees as Bill Maher's misguided meal with the president and his even more misguided monologue to defend that dinner. Here I was prepared to meet Hitler, the one I'd seen and heard the public Hitler. [00:00:18] But this private Hitler was a completely different animal. Larry David, the creator of Curb Your Enthusiasm, is not enthused about the fact that comedian Bill Maher decided to have a sit down conversation, a private [00:00:34] conversation with President Donald Trump. Now, Bill Maher has been highly critical of Trump. He has not been a friendly broadcaster toward Trump, but nonetheless, nonetheless. Just yesterday, Larry David published a parody of Maher in The New York Times [00:00:52] titled Larry David My Dinner with Adolf. So he's drawing parallels, to between Trump and Adolf Hitler. Obviously here. And to understand what David is getting at, let's actually discuss [00:01:07] how Mars dinner went, or more importantly, how Mars described his dinner with Donald Trump on his HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher. So he said, quote, I never felt I had to walk on eggshells around Trump. And honestly, I voted for Clinton and Obama, but I would never feel comfortable [00:01:25] talking to them the way I was able to talk with Donald Trump. That's just how it went down. Make it what you will. It's emblematic of why Democrats are so unpopular these days. He continues, there were so many moments when I hit him with a joke [00:01:43] or contradicted something, and no problem. At dinner, he was asking me about, the nuclear situation in Iran. That's that's definitely concerning in a very genuine. Hey, I think you're a smart guy. I want your opinion sort of way. [00:01:58] And I said, well, obviously you're privy to things about it, but I'm not. Yeah, I'm going to stop. I do not want Trump to take advice from Bill Maher on anything pertaining to the Middle East. But let me continue. But for what it's worth, I thought the Obama deal was worth letting [00:02:15] play out because we made Iran destroy 98% of the uranium, and they were 15 years away from a bomb. And then I said to him, but we got rid of that. You got rid of that? He didn't get mad or call me a left wing lunatic. He took it in. [00:02:31] Finally he says, you can hate me for it, but I'm not a liar. Trump was gracious and measured. And why he isn't that in other settings? I don't know, and I can't answer. And it's not my place to answer. I'm just telling you what I saw and I wasn't high. [00:02:48] So before we get to Larry David's, you know, parody response to all of this, Jake, what are your thoughts on Bill Maher's take here? Yeah, no, I agree with Bill Maher. I think you should go to, meet with him. And and I'm glad that, he put in a vote for you know, [00:03:06] getting back into the Iran nuclear deal that Obama had and not going to war. So, obviously, Bill Maher and and we disagree a lot on Israel, but apparently we agree on that. And since, Donald Trump cares a lot about what people on TV think, [00:03:23] that's not just one vote. That's a lot of votes, in Donald Trump's mind against war. So I'm glad that Bill did that. I thought Larry David's Op-Ed was really clever, funny, effective, and I totally disagree with it. [00:03:41] You disagree with it? Okay. Interesting. I mean, look, it's actually not that interesting. I totally suspected that would be your take. So, look, Larry David, not a fan of that monologue from Bill Maher or his willingness to go speak with Donald Trump. So let me give you a few excerpts from the op ed, the parody op ed [00:03:57] that he wrote in the New York Times. He says, I had just been a vocal critic of Hitler's on the radio from the beginning, but eventually I concluded that hate gets us nowhere. I knew I couldn't change his views, but we need to talk about the other side. [00:04:13] Even if it has invaded and annexed other countries and committed unspeakable crimes against humanity. I mean, Barack Obama literally assassinated an American citizen in the Middle East. [00:04:28] He was a suspected terrorist. But American citizens are supposed to buy the way everyone is supposed to get due process in this case. I mean, we're talking about an American citizen that was assassinated, and then his son was assassinated after that. So, look, I understand where Larry David is coming from because Trump does not have [00:04:47] a spotless record at all. But at the same time, I just find it so interesting how all these big public figures, especially entertainers, seem to think that the Democratic Party is squeaky clean when in a lot of cases they [00:05:03] have carried out atrocities of their own, you know, in Democratic administrations. But since they smile and they come across as professorial and professional, they're the good guys. Whereas Trump. Yes, I get it. The way he speaks is grotesque at times. [00:05:20] He doesn't hide what he actually thinks and just says it like it is. And that honestly offends the sensibilities of a lot of people. But that. That's not to say that he in some ways he is worse, right? But I just I have a problem with like the whitewashing of the, [00:05:36] you know, crimes against humanity that were committed by the other side of the political aisle as well. Yeah. So, on the surface, there's a lot to agree with Larry David on. So when you are, should you be concerned about, Donald Trump's authority, [00:05:52] author authoritarian tendencies? Definitely. So that is not an illegitimate concern at all. He's talking about serving a third term that's obviously unconstitutional. They're talking about suspending habeas corpus and due process. That's the cornerstones of Western civilization. [00:06:07] Not listening to the courts if, you know, if he does this consistently. And for example, he's not yet at the point where he, is saying, I will never listen to the courts. But he's getting there. And if he gets there, we've lost the country. We've lost democracy. [00:06:22] So I'm going to go further than you, Jake. No, no, he is not listening to literally the highest court of the land, the United States Supreme Court. So that is a huge problem. And I'm not in any way trying to cover up, you know, the bad behavior and unconstitutional, you know, behavior that Trump is engaging in. [00:06:42] He did not listen to the United States Supreme Court, which told him, you need to bring this individual back from El Salvador, who you basically illegally deported. You didn't give him due process. So, yeah, it's bad. So it's as it's almost as bad as it could be. [00:06:57] But why do I say almost? Because I'm trying to be accurate and correct here. Because. So why do I think that the Rubicon has not been completely crossed? Because the Supreme Court ordered the case to go back to the district court and work its way back up on how to bring him back. So we're not at the end of the road yet. [00:07:14] So. But once it goes back up to the Supreme Court, the court is going to give a definitive ruling. And if he ignores it at that point, that's it. We crossed the Rubicon. We're in a constitutional crisis. And and he's on his way to authoritarianism. Right? So and he's on that road now and he's testing things. [00:07:31] So why then, why do I disagree with Larry David? Especially because such a clever way of putting it in in the op ed. Well, because he's assuming that Trump is already Hitler and we have already arrived at that end. Conclusion. [00:07:46] And Bill Maher is playing Patty cakes with him anyway, right? No, I would argue that Bill is going. And remember, guys, I'm a guy who's criticized Bill Maher ferociously. So if if I have any biases against Bill Maher, but I think he did the right thing here because he's trying to prevent and to the best of his ability, [00:08:06] he's just one guy, right? But at least he's trying he's trying to prevent those ends. If we had already gotten to those ends, then. Yeah. Who gives a damn if Hitler cracks a joke, right? And so. But what? How is Bill helping to do that? [00:08:21] Well, in this analogy, Trump has not crossed over to the Sudetenland yet, which I would argue is attacking Iran. And Bill is telling him, don't attack Iran. And so will I take that? Yes, yes, I will definitely take that, as opposed to other people in the room [00:08:38] telling him to attack Iran and no counter-voice. So I love that Bill Maher went there and and I'm actually surprised that at his opinion on that. But but very pleasantly surprised. And so that's great. That's why, by the way, you never shut down speech because you never know [00:08:54] who's going to help at what time. You know, we're all human beings with a real interesting variety of opinions here. And so lastly, in terms of why I think it could help is, look, you know, Larry David makes fun of Bill Maher, in that, oh, he thought Trump was funny [00:09:12] and more open to him than the Democrats. Ha ha ha. Because Trump is Hitler. But wait a minute. That's not what mom is saying. Mom is saying Democratic, officials and government. Not just about candidates and politicians would be better served [00:09:29] to be as personable as Trump is, because even though Trump does all these terrible things that we call out that Bill Maher calls out, he wins elections by being personable. He's trying to give helpful advice to the Democrats. So, hey, that you might be able to beat guys like Donald Trump. [00:09:47] Not allowed. Yeah, but if you do anything that is open minded in any way, shape or form or try to influence the Trump administration or the right wing in any form, there are folks like Larry David who I really respect otherwise, who say, nope, that's it, you're helping Hitler and that's anyone talking to the right wing. [00:10:05] Ever, ever, ever, ever is helping Hitler. And that is super counterproductive. Not at all helpful and ironically, will lead to the end that Larry David's worried about in the first place. And finally, I just want to leave with one comment from Patrick Healy. [00:10:21] He's the deputy opinion editor of The New York Times, and he said the following in an accompanying piece. He argues Larry's piece is not equating Trump with Hitler. It is about seeing people for who they really are and not losing sight of that. [00:10:37] David is arguing that during a single dinner or a private meeting, anyone can be human, and it means nothing in the end about what that person is capable of. But I would argue that based on what I've heard Bill Maher say about the dinner, [00:10:52] he's not arguing that, you know, Donald Trump is actually a stand up guy in reality and that, you know, that one dinner has totally changed his mind about who Trump is as a person. But he did disclose a really interesting dynamic here, where Trump seems to be a completely different person when it's behind closed [00:11:10] doors and he's having a one on one conversation with a political opponent. It. So you know that that change in behavior, I think, is an interesting revelation to learn about Donald Trump. And, let's keep it real. Like my biggest issue is we critics of Trump's need to come up with new material, [00:11:32] like the Hitler thing is getting a little played out, to be honest with you. Like, that's that's such a tired, you know, parallel to draw. And yeah, he was comparing Trump to Hitler or I'm not stupid. Like if you read the piece, that's clearly what he's doing here. Yeah. I mean, even if it's an analogy, it's an analogy to Hitler. [00:11:49] Yes. Yeah. And and he's less criticizing Trump than he is criticizing Bill Maher for talking to Hitler, the equivalent of Hitler. But nevertheless it is a Hitler reference. There's no question about that. So, I mean, Larry David's a super smart guy, so don't insult our intelligence and don't be patronizing. [00:12:05] If you're going to say something, say it right. And so, look, I just think that they're on the wrong track, and and the thing that I keep going back to is While they think they're on the moral high ground. Folks like Larry David. Oh, they're all Hitler. [00:12:20] Don't talk to Hitler. ET cetera. I think that they're being deeply counterproductive because by not talking, by not trying to influence people, by not getting involved in the conversation, you're letting the, you know, in his analogy, you're letting the Brownshirts, the SS, the Gestapo run wild with no opposition. [00:12:39] How does that help? At least Bill Maher went in there to try to help and try to push him in the right direction. I don't see Larry David doing that. So, you know, he's perfectly clever. But, Larry, show me how you helped. Because now, for the first time, I see how Bill has helped. [00:12:57] So I score one for Bill Maher. And and because normally I love Larry David and I take Larry David over Bill Maher on almost any other issue. But on this. No. Sorry, Larry, I think you're definitely wrong and you're being counterproductive and let the brother try to do some good in the world. [00:13:12] Every time you ring the bell below, an angel gets his wings. Totally not true, but it does keep you updated on our live shows.