Some people are impossible to mock — sometimes it’s because they’re simply unflappable; other times it’s that the joke flies right over their heads. Donald Trump appeared on Monday to fall into the latter category after he tweeted out a profanity-laced video clip from a recent episode of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” that he thought celebrated him (spoiler: it definitely didn’t).
In the episode — from the Season 10 premiere which aired last month — Larry David’s fictional version of himself is driving down a long street and unfortunately doesn’t see a biker barreling at him into his blind spot. “David” almost bangs into the bike when starts to switch lanes, and the biker freaks out and starts shouting and swearing and threatening “David.” But “David” defuses the altercation when he pulls over and puts on a red MAGA baseball cap, prompting the biker to completely de-escalate the situation with a reassuring “just be more careful next time.”
Trump loved the scene so much that on Monday he tweeted a pirated clip of it out with an ecstatic “TOUGH GUYS FOR TRUMP!”:
TOUGH GUYS FOR TRUMP! pic.twitter.com/DbjZjGzLWU
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2020
Unfortunately for POTUS, the actual joke of the episode is that “Larry David” figures out how wearing the hat saves him from all manner of situations he wants no part of. Specifically, awful people are suddenly nice to him, and decent people he doesn’t want to deal with avoid him. Or as he sums it up later in the episode, “it’s a great people repellent.” And of course, it’s worth mentioning that the real Larry David is an outspoken critic of Trump.
As you can imagine, Twitter had a field day with the apparent presidential misunderstanding, and by early evening Larry David was a top trending item. See some samples of the reaction below.
Does this idiot realize Larry David is making fun of him? https://t.co/xqiS5CVyXY
— Matt (@MattM0720) February 11, 2020
Larry David is making fun of you, oh all knowledgeable great one
— Snoop w/an A (@AnoopMat) February 11, 2020
So Trump just retweeted this despite the use of seven f-bombs and the fact that the video is mocking him-what a stable genius. https://t.co/9ehRMOLZvj
— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) February 11, 2020
https://twitter.com/SantaInc/status/1227041956871593985
Representatives for David and for the White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap.