Love or hate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-T.X., the truth of the matter is this: The Princeton University and Harvard University graduate has a way with words.
MSNBC found out the hard way that trying to catch Cruz in a “gotcha” moment isn’t easy.
One of the network’s top hosts went out of her way to fact check the prominent GOP Senator.
She paid an embarrassing price.
Andrea Mitchell aimed a cheap attack on Cruz, claiming that he wrongly quoted a famous literary quote in a recent Fox News interview of his.
Mitchell — posting to Twitter — claimed that Cruz’ literary reference was dead wrong.
“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
While it’s true that the words “sound” and “fury” both appear as part of one of William Faulkner’s most famous novel titles, Mitchell is wrong.
Cruz correctly quoted the line from William Shakespeare.
Cruz responded directly to the charge, in his own Shakespearean takedown:
“Methinks she doth protest too much,” he wrote. “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.'”
Methinks she doth protest too much.
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.” pic.twitter.com/3GbvoLSJTh— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 11, 2021
It took the MSNBC host less than two hours to apologize.
And her excuse was priceless.
“I clearly studied too much American literature and not enough Macbeth,” she wrote. “My apologies to Sen. Cruz.”
I clearly studied too much American literature and not enough Macbeth. My apologies to Sen. Cruz.
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) February 11, 2021
It seems like if she had studied politics — as her job title as MSNBC’s chief correspondent would suggest — she’d have known Cruz’ educational pedigree…
… and would’ve known better to go there.
The Horn editorial team