Bill Maher has come in for tons of criticism since he opted to have dinner with Donald Trump, but none of it was as biting as a recent takedown by “Seinfeld” creator Larry David.

In an essay for the New York Times called “My Dinner With Adolf,” David took Maher to task for attempting to soften the image of a fascist strongman. While David never mentions the “Real Time” host by name, the timing of the piece and its main character’s need to hear out all sides past the point of ludicrousness make the target clear.

David’s fictional meeting with Adolf Hitler echoes many of the points that Maher has made in the days since he dined with Trump. Maher, a crochety liberal-leaning comic who has grown more crochety and less liberal as societal norms have passed him by, marvelled at the fact that he could make the commander-in-chief laugh.