Larry David praises Obama’s comedic timing, calls Trump’s White House UFC fight ‘a travesty’

Comedian Larry David had kind words for former President Barack Obama and sharp ones for President Trump ahead of the Tuesday premiere of his new HBO sketch series, saying Mr. Trump’s staging of a UFC fight on the White House South Lawn left him feeling ashamed of his country.

“It was a travesty,” Mr. David told Variety at the Hollywood premiere of “Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: An Almost History of America.” “What else can you say about it? It was embarrassing. I was embarrassed to be an American.”

The remarks referred to the UFC Freedom 250 event held June 14 on the White House South Lawn, which marked both the nation’s 250th anniversary and Mr. Trump’s 80th birthday. Roughly 4,300 spectators attended, including 1,200 active-duty service members. The Marine Band performed the national anthem alongside musician Zac Brown, and the evening concluded with flyovers by the Navy’s Blue Angels and the Air Force Thunderbirds. Mr. Trump called it “beyond anything that anybody’s ever seen in sports.”

Mr. David reserved his enthusiasm for Mr. Obama, who appears alongside the comedian in a sketch on his new series. Mr. David called the former president’s comedic timing “perfect” and praised him as “really good at ad-libbing,” adding that sharing a scene with a former head of state was “really trippy.” When asked whether Mr. Obama’s performance merited Emmy consideration, Mr. David was characteristically measured. “I wouldn’t go that far,” he said.

Mr. David’s new series, which premieres Friday on HBO, is a seven-episode sketch comedy show satirizing pivotal moments in U.S. history. Mr. Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama’s production company Higher Ground is producing the series and first approached Mr. David about the project. He said a prior relationship with the former president likely factored in.

“I know the president a little bit. We played golf together, and I did a Super Bowl ad maybe four or five years ago where I was dressed in costumes and everything. So maybe that was part of their thinking,” Mr. David said. “I don’t know. Maybe they just like ’Curb.’”

Series director and co-creator Jeff Schaffer recalled his own moment of uncertainty on set — specifically, what to call Mr. Obama while giving him notes.

“I was telling the Higher Ground people, ’What do I call him when I want to give him a note?’” Mr. Schaffer said. “They were like, ’Just try sir.’”

Higher Ground executive producer Ethan Lewis said the Obamas wanted to mark the country’s milestone birthday “in a way that feels unexpected and unique.”

The series boasts an extensive guest cast, including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bill Hader, Kathryn Hahn, Jon Hamm, Henry Winkler, Sean Hayes, Joe Manganiello, Jane Krakowski, Greg Kinnear, Alan Tudyk, Rita Wilson, and Jerry and David Seinfeld. Vince Vaughn also appears, along with “Curb Your Enthusiasm” veterans Jeff Garlin, J.B. Smoove and Susie Essman, who plays Susan B. Anthony.

Mr. David is a longtime Trump critic. He previously described the president as a “sociopath” and a “sick man” in a CNN interview, and last year wrote a satirical New York Times essay titled “My Dinner with Adolf” mocking comedian Bill Maher’s dinner with the president at the White House.