In the 10th season premiere of the HBO comedy, star Larry David used a MAGA hat to avoid socializing with Angelenos.
Social media users on Monday made light of President Donald Trump's use of a Curb Your Enthusiasm video in a tweet touting his supporter base, given the context of the clip in the show.
"TOUGH GUYS FOR TRUMP!" the president tweeted, alongside a clip of star Larry David from the latest season's premiere. The video showed David's character driving when he veers into a lane and nearly hits a beefy guy riding a motorcycle. The motorcyclist curses David out until David, panicking, dons a "Make America Great Again" hat and the motorcyclist softens: "Just be more careful next time, OK?" he says.
In the 10th season premiere of the HBO comedy, the TV version of David occasionally wears the MAGA hat to avoid socializing with Angelenos; in this particular situation, he uses the hat to avoid confrontation with the biker. "Larry in the hat is such a dissonant image," executive producer Jeff Schaffer told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview about the season premiere. "You realized when he put it on that you just never see a person in a MAGA hat in Los Angeles. It’s like spotting a double rainbow of intolerance."
Trump, for his part, has repeatedly boasted about how "tough" his supporters are in relation to Democrats. In a 2019 interview, he said, "I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump – I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad."
Social media users, nevertheless, argued that Trump had misconstrued the video Monday and "Larry David" began trending on Twitter. "Larry David just Bloomberged ya, but you’re too conceited to get the joke," one user tweeted. "@realDonaldTrump @DonaldJTrumpJr watch the episode. Larry David wore your hat for a 'people repellent,'" another user wrote.
Many users tweeted a clip of an interview with David at the 92nd Street Y in New York, where an interviewer asked him of the satirical use of the MAGA hat in the show, "There are people who wear the MAGA hat and like what the MAGA hat represents. Are you afraid about alienating them? They could be fans of the show."
"Alienate yourselves," David responded. "Go! Go and alienate! You have my blessing. I could give a fuck."
