NBC’s Andrea Mitchell was treated to a lesson in English literature after attempting to correct Senator Ted Cruz’s use of a Shakespeare quote, wrongly crediting the line to William Faulkner despite holding a degree in the subject.
Singling out the Texas Republican by name in a Wednesday tweet, Mitchell said Cruz had misattributed a quote to the renowned English playwright after he cited it in reference to the ongoing impeachment drive against ex-president Donald Trump, saying it is “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
“Senator Ted Cruz says [the] impeachment trial is like Shakespeare, full of sound and fury signifying nothing. No, that’s Faulkner,” she wrote.
.@SenTedCruz says #ImpeachmentTrial is like Shakespeare full of sound and fury signifying nothing. No, that’s Faulkner
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) February 10, 2021
With the true origin of the quote mere clicks away, it didn’t take long before Mitchell – who holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania – was informed the famous line is, in fact, from Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth.’
https://t.co/3qxdIBI9HJ pic.twitter.com/trZlHNfYES
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 11, 2021
a tale is being told but there are too many idiots to count https://t.co/h0dZkEaHVh
— maura quint (@behindyourback) February 11, 2021
Media hacks can't even get things right that can be easily Googled, and we're supposed to trust them on more substantial matters?
— Larry Christopher (@Liminal333) February 11, 2021
The NBC host soon returned to Twitter to issue a mea culpa, admitting to the botched correction while apologizing to Cruz. “I clearly studied too much American literature and not enough Macbeth. My apologies to Sen. Cruz,” she said.
I clearly studied too much American literature and not enough Macbeth. My apologies to Sen. Cruz.
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) February 11, 2021
Cruz himself also joined in on the fun, reciting yet more Shakespeare in joking that Mitchell “doth protest too much” and pointing her to the ‘Macbeth’ passage in question. “One would think NBC would know the Bard,” he said, referring to Shakespeare’s moniker, the “Bard of Avon.”
Methinks she doth protest too much.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 11, 2021
One would think NBC would know the Bard. Andrea, take a look at Macbeth act 5, scene 5:
“[Life] struts & frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound & fury,
Signifying nothing.”
Mitchell was not the only one to pile on Cruz, with her tweet drawing sneers from other enlightened members of the Beltway literati, such as Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin, who was also mocked without mercy for endorsing the utterly failed dunk on the senator.
Between NBC & the Washington Post, you’d think somebody would have read Macbeth. pic.twitter.com/RvTgHyTVIg
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 11, 2021
Rubin (like Mitchell who made the same mistake) has never been the brightest bulb in the wall. Definitely Shakespeare. Now, she's done more to embarrass herself, and ultimately help Cruz, whom she wanted to embarrass in the first place. Oh, the irony. @tedcruz @jrubinblogger pic.twitter.com/BuLmpPp23V
— Greymarch (@Greymarch) February 11, 2021
Even better are the journalists in reply to Andrea Mitchell acting like Every Smart Person knows this is Faulkner and only an utter cretin like Ted Cruz would attribute this iconic Macbeth quote to William Shakespeare:https://t.co/qa8vGJ4TaG
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 11, 2021
To Mitchell’s credit, American novelist William Faulkner did draw inspiration from the well-known ‘Macbeth’ soliloquy for his book ‘The Sound and the Fury,’ but did not originate it.
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