Here’s the ‘Simpsons’ reference Mike Pompeo flubbed in his Nancy Pelosi troll
Shortly after President Donald Trump finished his State of the Union address Tuesday night and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tore up said speech on national television, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took to Twitter to, uh, have some fun.
He tweeted this — from his official account:
It’s a screen grab of Lisa Simpson — crying — from a 1991 “Simpsons” episode entitled “Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington.” And here’s the summary of the episode courtesy of the “Simpsons” Wiki:
“Thanks to Lisa’s patriotic winning essay in a contest sponsored by Reading Digest magazine, the Simpsons win a trip to Washington, D.C. However, Lisa’s faith in democracy is shaken when she sees her local representative taking a bribe for a permit to cut down the Springfield National Forest.”
(Sidebar: The best politically themed episode of the “Simpsons” is “Bart to the Future” — when Lisa is elected president, followed closely by “Trash of the Titans” when Homer runs for sanitation commissioner.)
So, Pompeo tweeted a picture of a character distraught at the corruption of a politician she once believed was actually going to change things. Drain the swamp indeed! (On a related note: Is it really appropriate for the secretary of state, the nation’s top diplomat, to use social media to troll the speaker of the House, even in reaction to her ripping up the President’s speech?)
This irony was, uh, not lost on people.
“In this episode Lisa loses her faith in democracy after seeing a corrupt politician selling out American values and liberty,” tweeted New Jersey Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell. “Like your boss. @YeardleySmith can probably explain better than I can.” (Yeardley Smith is the actress who voiced Lisa Simpson.)
And, on cue, Smith took to Twitter to scold Pompeo. “Be a leader and fight you own fight!” she tweeted. “Oh, wait I forgot, you’re a follower.”
So, yeah. Welcome to the wonderful world of the Internet, Secretary Pompeo. Where you need to know your meme — or, in this case, your “Simpsons” episode — or risk being hoisted with your own petard.
Or, put in “Simpsons” vernacular: HA HA (Nelson Muntz voice).
