Larry David Skewers the Democratic Socialists in a Satirical Essay, and the Left Is Not Laughing
The 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' creator imagines joining the DSA and adding 12 absurd planks to its platform. Some democratic socialists called it lowbrow. A California activist says the outrage proves his point.
Larry David has written a satire of the Democratic Socialists of America, and some of its supporters are angry about it.
His Oct. 17 essay in Air Mail, "The View from Here," imagines the lifelong Hollywood liberal joining the DSA and persuading it to adopt 12 increasingly ridiculous additions to its manifesto. Fox News says the targets included immigration, policing, reparations, religious identity and limits on offensive comedy.
The joke that drew the most heat. David wrote that he believes "in a two-state solution," and proposed that Palestinians get all the land now held by Israel while Israel gets Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific, "where the weather is beautiful and grapefruits are aplenty." He added, "We think the Bagel People will be very happy there."
The rest. He proposed that white women wear hijabs on weekends in solidarity with Muslim women, and that Jewish Americans stop calling themselves the "Chosen People." In another plank, comedians who offend audiences would go to sensitivity-training facilities. Repeat offenders would be sent to Pitcairn "to live with the Bagel People."
The reaction. The New York Times reported that several self-described democratic socialists questioned David's comedic skill and mocked his age. Zack Wall, 35, of Ohio, who said he is a democratic socialist but not a DSA member, called it "so lowbrow and unfunny." Lisa Cusack, president of the Don't LA My Burbank PAC, told Fox the critics seemed "really emotionally fragile" and "have a hard time understanding actual humor."
Why it matters now. Fox ties the essay to the growing weight of democratic socialists in the Democratic Party, led by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Fox says the DSA has publicly backed the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel and cuts to U.S. military aid.
Caveats. David and the DSA did not respond to Fox's request for comment. The jokes are satire and are described here, not endorsed.