"My Dinner with Adolf": Larry David roasts Bill Maher's meeting with Trump in satirical NYT essay

Bill Maher has come in for tons of criticism since he opted to have dinner with President Donald Trump, but none of it was as biting as a recent takedown by "Seinfeld" creator Larry David.

In an essay for the New York Times called "My Dinner With Adolf," David took Maher to task for attempting to soften the image of a fascist strongman. While David never mentions the "Real Time" host by name, the timing of the piece and its main character's need to hear out all sides past the point of ludicrousness make the target clear.

David's fictional meeting with Adolf Hitler echoes many of the points that Maher has made in the days since he dined with Trump. Maher, a crochety liberal-leaning comic who has grown more crochety and less liberal as societal norms have passed him by, marvelled at the fact that he could make the commander-in-chief laugh.

"I’ve never seen him laugh in public. But he does, including at himself. And it’s not fake," Maher said of Trump. "Believe me, as a comedian of 40 years, I know a fake laugh when I hear it."

Standing in front of the führer, David's narrator has a similar epiphany.

“Here I was, prepared to meet Hitler, the one I’d seen and heard—the public Hitler,” David wrote. “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.”

David ends the piece with the clueless narrator missing the fact that he's been played. While he still thinks of himself as a critic of history's greatest monster, he snaps a smart salute to Hitler all the same.

”'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,'" he says before Sieg Heil-ing in the Berlin night.

ElderPimpx on April 22nd, 2025 at 05:54 UTC »

Larry David: My Dinner With Adolf

Imagine my surprise when in the spring of 1939 a letter arrived at my house inviting me to dinner at the Old Chancellery with the world’s most reviled man, Adolf Hitler. I had been a vocal critic of his on the radio from the beginning, pretty much predicting everything he was going to do on the road to dictatorship. No one I knew encouraged me to go. “He’s Hitler. He’s a monster.” But eventually I concluded that hate gets us nowhere. I knew I couldn’t change his views, but we need to talk to the other side — even if it has invaded and annexed other countries and committed unspeakable crimes against humanity.

Two weeks later, I found myself on the front steps of the Old Chancellery and was led into an opulent living room, where a few of the Führer’s most vocal supporters had gathered: Himmler, Göring, Leni Riefenstahl and the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII. We talked about some of the beautiful art on the walls that had been taken from the homes of Jews. But our conversation ended abruptly when we heard loud footsteps coming down the hallway. Everyone stiffened as Hitler entered the room.

He was wearing a tan suit with a swastika armband and gave me an enthusiastic greeting that caught me off guard. Frankly, it was a warmer greeting than I normally get from my parents, and it was accompanied by a slap on my back. I found the whole thing quite disarming. I joked that I was surprised to see him in a tan suit because if he wore that out, it would be perceived as un-Führer-like. That amused him to no end, and I realized I’d never seen him laugh before. Suddenly he seemed so human. 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.

He said he was starving and led us into the dining room, where he gestured for me to sit next to him. Göring immediately grabbed a slice of pumpernickel, whereupon Hitler turned to me, gave me an eye roll, then whispered, “Watch. He’ll be done with his entire meal before you’ve taken two bites.” That one really got me. Göring, with his mouth full, asked what was so funny, and Hitler said, “I was just telling him about the time my dog had diarrhea in the Reichstag.” Göring remembered. How could he forget? He loved that story, especially the part where Hitler shot the dog before it got back into the car. Then a beaming Hitler said, “Hey, if I can kill Jews, Gypsies and homosexuals, I can certainly kill a dog!” That perhaps got the biggest laugh of the night — and believe me, there were plenty.

But it wasn’t just a one-way street, with the Führer dominating the conversation. He was quite inquisitive and asked me a lot of questions about myself. I told him I had just gone through a brutal breakup with my girlfriend because every time I went someplace without her, she was always insistent that I tell her everything I talked about. I can’t stand having to remember every detail of every conversation. Hitler said he could relate — he hated that, too. “What am I, a secretary?” He advised me it was best not to have any more contact with her or else I’d be right back where I started and eventually I’d have to go through the whole thing all over again. I said it must be easy for a dictator to go through a breakup. He said, “You’d be surprised. There are still feelings.” Hmm … there are still feelings. That really resonated with me. We’re not that different, after all. I thought that if only the world could see this side of him, people might have a completely different opinion.

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.

RyloKloon on April 22nd, 2025 at 04:49 UTC »

I find it so strange that some people could ever be hoodwinked by Trump in any context. I've never needed someone to sit down and explain exactly why he's a bad person, he just exudes it from every pore. It's not like my only frame of reference is his political speeches or policy. I watched the Joe Rogan interview. I watched all these streams where he's being nice.

Even when he's not being outwardly aggressive, he is still completely and utterly insufferable. He can't even tell you about knickknacks on the wall without sounding like a sleazy used car salesman. He's a grifter and a liar and a braggart and a liar again. It's just who he is in his soul and I've never seen him behave in a way that suggests he's an actual human being. He's like an empty vessel being puppeted by demons.

I'm certain I couldn't stand in a room with him for five minutes. He just has no redeeming qualities.

ffwshi on April 22nd, 2025 at 03:25 UTC »

Pretty, pretty, pretty good. Hope angry little old man Bill Maher reads it..