Larry David beats up Elmo during NBC's 'Today' show: 'Somebody had to do it'
Comedian Larry David crashed NBC's "Today" show segment with Elmo on Thursday and seemed to beat up the Sesame Street character on set before being asked to apologize.
The final season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is putting a bizarre spotlight on Georgia's election law, which faced intense scrutiny from the left three years ago.
HBO's long-running comedy starring Larry David is coming to a close with its 12th season following 24 sporadic years on television.
But a central focus of the final episodes that have aired so far this month is revisiting the Peach State's 2021 voting reform, specifically the highly-debated provision over providing food and water to voters waiting in line.
In the season premiere, David's character is incidentally in Atlanta during an election where he encounters his friend's Aunt Rae in the squelching heat while waiting hours in line to vote. After rushing to his car to get her a bottle of water, David is immediately arrested.
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE GOES OFF ON ‘CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM’ FOR MOCKING GEORGIANS: ‘DISGUSTING’
Larry David's character is arrested for handing a bottle of water to a Georgia voter waiting in line in the 12th season premiere of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm." (Screenshots/HBO)
"You're under arrest for the violation of the Election Integrity Act," a police officer tells David in the scene. "It is illegal for anyone in the state of Georgia to provide food or water to voters in line at the polls."
"What?! That's barbaric!" David exclaims before being escorted away.
The episode ends with a Fulton County mugshot of David, clearly inspired by former President Trump's.
Larry David parodied former President Trump's Fulton County mugshot on "Curb Your Enthusiasm." (Screenshot/HBO, Fulton County Sheriff's Office)
In the next episode, David is treated like a liberal folk hero, receiving fanfare from protesters standing outside the jailhouse in support of him as well as praise from cameo appearances by the hosts of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," music superstar Bruce Springsteen and even former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, a vocal critic of Georgia's election law.
"Larry David is about action, not words. He saw an injustice and he did what he could to right it. And that's what we need today in America," Abrams says on David's television.
After initially intending to plea guilty to have the charges put behind him, David is guilted by Rae into fighting the charges in court, telling the judge at the end of the episode he pleads not guilty.
Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams made a cameo appearance praising Larry David in the most recent episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." (Screenshot/HBO)
The text of Georgia's law states, "No person shall solicit votes in any manner or by any means or method, nor shall any person distribute or display any campaign material, nor shall any person give, offer to give, or participate in the giving of any money or gifts, including, but not limited to, food and drink, to an elector."
Georgia state officials tell Fox News Digital that the provision was meant to crack down on third-party political activists trying to influence voters at polling places.
"While Curb is usually hilarious, this one distorted the facts beyond anything funny," Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger told Fox News Digital. "It’s tough to make a joke out of Georgia’s two-minute wait times - or our number one ranking for election security."
Raffensberger previously touted following the 2022 midterm elections that the average wait time in lines on Election Day was "two minutes."
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger accused "Curb Your Enthusiasm" of distorting the facts of his state's election law. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
Mike Hassinger, spokesman for Georgia's Secretary of State's office, called the entire "Curb" scenario "absurd," between the long line portrayed in the episode and the over-the-top reaction to David's actions, telling Fox News Digital, "Nobody's getting arrested for giving away water."
Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones took a swipe at Abrams for teaming up with "Hollywood liberals" to "lie and denigrate the state of Georgia."
"Despite the Hollywood lies, our election reform bill made it easier to vote and harder to cheat, which is why we saw record turnout in the 2022 election cycle," Jones told Fox News Digital. "If Stacey is still trying to figure out why she lost two statewide elections in four years, I’d suggest she take a good look in the mirror instead of sucking up to Hollywood liberals and trashing her own state."
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., took aim at the HBO show on social media Tuesday, largely for its portrayal of Georgians and Trump voters.
"I watched this week’s episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm and it was a glaring reminder of why most Georgians resent Republicans in our state for inviting the nasty commies from California, the Hollywood elites, into our state by dishing out Hollywood tax credits," Greene posted on X.
Greene continued, "This week’s episode lied and painted GA conservatives and Trump supporters as racists and red necks and made fun of our good new law that stops the Stacey Abrams vote pandering machine and prevents voter fraud. We in Georgia are fed up with disgusting Hollywood and their disgusting values and elite judgment in our state that is trying to turn GA blue!"
Representatives for Abrams did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment. HBO declined to comment.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. blasted Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" for mocking Georgians. (Getty Images)
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Georgia Republicans were inundated with attacks from the left for enacting election forms in 2021, which liberals insisted was a direct result of President Biden defeating Trump in the usually red state in the 2020 presidential election.
Many Democrats and members of the media echoed Biden's characterization of the law as being "Jim Crow 2.0," with accusations that the bill would suppress the Black vote. The controversy ballooned so much so that Major League Baseball was pressured into moving its 2021 All-Star Game from the Atlanta Braves' Truist Park to Denver that year. However, the following year saw record-breaking turnout in the state's 2022 primary and general elections, leading Raffensperger and other proponents of the law to take a victory lap against its progressive critics.
A poll released last year by the University of Georgia showed that an astonishing 99% of voters in the state had no problems voting in 2022.
Atlanta is scheduled to host the MLB All-Star Game again in 2025, and there doesn't appear to be any liberal push to move it this time.
Fox News' David Rutz contributed to this report.