The last time Larry David waded into politics with a satirical essay, it was to take aim at a very safe target in his liberal circles — President Trump.
Mr. David, who is known for his brand of anxious, observational comedy, mocked Bill Maher for dining with Mr. Trump at the White House in a guest essay published in The New York Times Opinion section last year headlined “My Dinner With Adolf,” in which he imagined dining with Hitler in 1939.
But Mr. David’s latest satire took aim at topics that are likely to be far more controversial within the coastal enclaves where his work is popular: the ascendant Democratic Socialists of America and its hostility toward Israel.
In a new essay published by Air Mail, the 79-year old comic channels the satirist Jonathan Swift and offers a dozen “modest proposals” for the manifesto of the socialist organization, whose actual proposals and guiding principles have been widely debated this year as several candidates aligned with the organization won primaries.
Mr. David’s suggestions start with ideas rooted in core planks of the movement, as he parodies proposals to abolish prisons and restrictions on immigration.
“In our Socialist America,” Mr. David writes, “everyone will be so fulfilled spiritually and financially that the police department will be dramatically reduced to where an officer’s only job will be to adjudicate domestic disputes.”
“Toward that end, stands will be set up at local farmers markets, where they will work to resolve marital issues in a folksy, farm-to-table manner,” he writes.
He rapidly progresses to more outlandish ideas, including national paid leave for the death of pets, mandating that employers provide cots for two siestas a day, allowing humans who identify as animals to “relieve themselves” wherever they wish and reparations that would enlist white people to serve as slaves for Black families.
Mr. David then aims his pen at one of the biggest fault lines dividing the Democratic Party, wading into the fraught debate over the line between opposition to Israel and antisemitism. Jews, he writes, will no longer be allowed to call themselves “the Chosen people” — a part of Jewish identity dating back millenniums — and will be known instead as “the Bagel People.”
“We strongly believe in a two-state solution,” the proposal says. “To this end, we propose that Palestinians should be given all the land currently occupied by Israel and that Israel should be given Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific, where the weather is beautiful and grapefruits are aplenty. We think the Bagel People will be very happy there.”
Best known for the hit TV shows “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Mr. David has long been a prominent Democratic donor in Hollywood with an interest in political satire.
A national spokesperson for the D.S.A. declined to comment on Mr. David’s article. But online, some took umbrage at Mr. David’s satire of the democratic socialists. Matthew Gauna, a 29-year-old student in San Antonio who agrees with D.S.A. ideas but said he is not a member of the organization, replied online to a post comparing Mr. David to Mr. Maher by calling Mr. David “my problematic king,” with a wilted flower emoji.
“I don’t know if Larry is on top of his comedic game right now,” Mr. Gauna said in a phone interview.
Another post described the essay as “Larry David has a boomer crashout over Israel.”
Zack Wall, 35, of Columbus, Ohio, replied online to that post, writing, “Someone take the phone from gramps,” along with three crying-face emojis.
Mr. Wall said in a phone interview that Mr. David’s piece was an “utter disappointment.”
“Not so much that he was ragging on D.S.A. I don’t care about that part,” said Mr. Wall, who added that he identifies as a democratic socialist but is not a member of the D.S.A., with which he has some disagreements. “It was just so low-brow and unfunny. It can’t be the same person who wrote ‘Curb.’”
Many posts focused on Mr. David’s age while criticizing his views, and others described him as unfunny and racist.
“Maybe I’m just too young, but who is Larry David and why would any person alive care what he has to say?” said a user who identified themselves as DSA_Girly.
The Times sought to confirm the identities of the users who wrote these posts, but some declined to be interviewed or did not immediately respond to interview requests.
Mr. David, whose comedy has made him a millionaire many times over, did not mock the D.S.A.’s economic proposals, which include universal health care, raising the minimum wage and expanding public housing and child care. The movement’s focus on economic inequality is central to its appeal for many voters, who are struggling with higher costs and a dismal view of their financial future.
Mr. David seemed to anticipate the backlash his piece would provoke, daring his socialist targets to take the joke.
His last proposal mandates that any comedian who causes “emotional discomfort” be sent to be “re-programmed” to emerge with greater sensitivity.
And if that effort fails, Mr. David offers one final “modest” suggestion: “The repeat offender will be sent to Pitcairn Island to live with the Bagel People.”
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