Now Playing
Alec Baldwin Takes a Shot at Donald Trump’s Lack of Emmys
Next Up
Power Book II: Ghost: Official Teaser
Donald Trump has a history of using accidentally ironic TV show memes to promote his political agenda — particularly when it comes to HBO’s original programming — and Twitter is having an absolute field day with the latest example. On Monday night, Trump tweeted a video clip from Curb Your Enthusiasm‘s Season 10 premiere, titled “Happy New Year,” with the all-caps caption “TOUGH GUYS FOR TRUMP!”
In the scene clipped for the tweet, Larry David is shown almost crashing into a four-letter-word-happy biker who only calms down once David puts on one of those signature red “Make America Great Again” hats worn by Trump’s supporters. But it appears Trump might not have caught the rest of what happened in the episode and didn’t discover that he was the punchline of that joke.
TOUGH GUYS FOR TRUMP! pic.twitter.com/DbjZjGzLWU
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2021
What transpires in the episode leading up to the moment featured in Trump’s tweet is Larry David’s discovery that wearing the MAGA hat serves as a great “people repellent,” and Larry whips out the hat whenever he wants to drive others away from him. It’s successful at getting him out of a lunch meeting he’s been dreading and keeping the seats next to him empty at a sushi bar. The episode culminates with Larry getting into trouble for wearing the hat and quoting Trump’s infamous Access Hollywood hot mic lines in a professional situation.
Naturally, the responses to the tweeted clip have been, well, spirited.
Wow, talk about not getting the joke.
Literally 5 min later in the episode: “It’s a great people repellent.” pic.twitter.com/HyoJwxGg7X
— Santa Claus, CEO (@SantaInc) February 11, 2021
Classic scene from Curb Your Enthusiasm!
But Trump misses the point: In the episode, the point wasn’t to say that Trump fans are “tough.” It was to say they are obnoxious bullies like Orange Man.
Another lesson from the show: Wearing a #MAGA hat makes you a “people repellent.” pic.twitter.com/omNzN5bfqC
— Russell Drew (@RussOnPolitics) February 11, 2021
Of course, there were others who had a more charitable interpretation to the clip choice.
Their liberal skit really backfired on them, its hilarious.
— Dawn Michael, PhD💗 (@SexCounseling) February 11, 2021
This isn’t the first time Trump has potentially misunderstood a show that he memed.
In 2019, Trump co-opted the Game of Thrones Season 8 poster theme for his infamous “no collusion” party, and the cable network responded — along with some of the show’s stars — to malign the use of its intellectual property for that purpose. He later issued a play on the show’s iconic “Winter Is Coming” phrase by subbing in the word “Wall,” and fans of the show were quick to point out the fact that there was also a much-fussed wall in Game of Thrones, but it’d just been utterly destroyed.
Curb Your Enthusiasm airs on Sundays at 10:30/9:30c.
Curb Your Enthusiasm" width="2070" height="1380" title="Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm" data-amp-src="https://tvguide1.cbsistatic.com/i/2020/02/11/ecc748bf-8942-4782-87f5-8a2a9b9513c1/curb-reg.jpg" data-lazy-src="http://image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw=%3D&is-pending-load=1" srcset="data:image/gif;base64, https://ten15am.org/donald-trump-apparently-missed-the-punchline-of-this-curb-your-enthusiasm-clip/R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7">
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm