Larry David has used the latest episode of his Barack Obama-produced historical sketch show to take a swipe at the U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In the most recent installment of Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness, which streams on HBO Max, the Curb Your Enthusiasm creator plays Dora Salk, the mother of virologist Jonas Salk, who developed the first successful polio vaccine.
In the scene, David’s character is confronted by a character named “Bobby” who states: “That vaccine’s gonna kill people. It’s gonna give them heart attacks!”
David’s character shoots back: “Drop dead, Bobby!”
Dora continues: “You should die a dog’s death. You don’t know anything about science, you’re not a doctor.”
After Bobby responda that if he “was in charge, I’d make sure that no kids took that vaccine. That goes for measles, too,” David’s character adds: “If you were in charge, God help us all! If some idiot, some moron, ever put you in charge, that would be a dark day for humanity.”
In real life Kennedy, who is often referred to as “Bobby,” is married to David’s former Curb Your Enthusiasm screen wife Cheryl Hines.
David was reportedly the person to first introduce the couple, prior to their marriage in August 2014.
He has since fallen out with them over their differing political positions, and Hines is notable for being the only core member of the Curb Your Enthusiasm cast not to appear in Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness.
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Asked by Variety why Hines is absent from the show, Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness director Jeff Schaffer said: “You know, it just didn’t work out that way.”
In December last year, Hines said of David: “I think he’s mad because Bobby’s in the administration.”
After adding that David is “not happy about politics,” she insisted that they weren’t close outside of filming anyhow.
“I actually think I would be fine talking to Larry,” she added. “Somebody asked me, ‘What would happen if you walked into a restaurant and he was there?’ I would be happy to see him and I’d say hi and we’d talk for a second.
“I don’t know,” Hines mused. “It’s not like Larry and I used to play pickleball and we don’t now. You know what I mean? I would really see him at work or things like that once in a while, have lunch, but I haven’t really been around in LA the same time he has. So, I don’t know. I’m sure things would be fine with us.”
During his time as the nation’s Health Secretary, Kennedy has radically overhauled federal policy, including gutting the CDC and making significant and controversial changes to vaccine guidelines.
