To tweet or not to tweet. That's the question MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell should have asked herself before she tried to fact check Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-TX) literary knowledge. While on Fox News on Wednesday, Sen. Cruz compared the impeachment trial to the words of the great British bard and playwright William Shakespeare.
"It's reminiscent of Shakespeare [in] that it is full of sound and fury, and yet signifying nothing," Cruz said.
Shakespeare fans would know that Cruz was referencing a scene from the tragedy "MacBeth." But Mitchell thought she had a real time smackdown.
.@SenTedCruz says #ImpeachmentTrial is like Shakespeare full of sound and fury signifying nothing. No, that’s Faulkner
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) February 10, 2021
Other journalists were quick to correct Mitchell and didn't even try to hide their disappointment.
"Faulkner wrote the book 'The Sound and the Fury,'" responded New York Times columnist Nicolas Kristof. "But the phrase comes from Shakespeare's Macbeth: 'It is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.' The whole passage is beautiful."
But our favorite reply came from the Washington Post's Annie Gowen.
Oh dear Andrea, this tweet is a Scottish tragedy ???? https://t.co/Cmn1eWigoW
— Annie Gowen (@anniegowen) February 11, 2021
Mitchell eventually realized her error and apologized to the senator.
"I clearly studied too much American literature and not enough Macbeth," Mitchell bashfully replied. "My apologies to Sen. Cruz."
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) grabbed the popcorn and enjoyed the show.
????
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) February 11, 2021
You must have missed the American literature class on Faulkner about how the sound and fury title is an actual reference to SHAKESPEARE!
I ?? Shakespeare. I ?? Faulkner. And I absolutely ?? this @tedcruz literary take down ?? https://t.co/mnWC9hdwk4
Time to brush up your Shakespeare!