Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came under fire Wednesday after sharing a still image from “The Simpsons” on social media in an apparent swipe at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Mr. Pompeo posted the image from his personal Twitter account late Tuesday shortly after Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, tore up her copy of the State of the Union address at the conclusion of President Trump delivering the speech during a joint session of Congress.
Taken from a 1991 episode of the animated series, the image showed cartoon character Lisa Simpson sobbing while similarly ripping up her paper copy of a prepared speech.
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) February 5, 2020
Bill Oakley, a former writer and producer for “The Simpsons,” and Yeardley Smith, the longtime voice of Lisa Simpson, subsequently took issue with Mr. Pompeo’s tweet from their respective Twitter accounts.
“Mr. Secretary of State please do not ever ever ever use Simpsons material in your twitter or watch the show or refer to it in any way,” Mr. Oakley tweeted to Mr. Pompeo.
“I might just add [f—k] you @mikepompeo for co-opting my character to troll @SpeakerPelosi,” Ms. Yeardley later said to the secretary of state in a tweet using an asterisk in the expletive. “Be a leader and fight you own fight! Oh, wait I forgot, you’re a follower.”
Mr. Pompeo had not responded publicly to either tweet as of early Wednesday afternoon.
Standing behind Mr. Trump and next to Vice President Mike Pence, Mrs. Pelosi began tearing up pages of her printed copy of the State of the Union as soon as the speech concluded.
“The manifesto of mistruths presented in page after page of the address tonight should be a call to action for everyone who expects truth from the president and policies worthy of his office and the American people,” Mrs. Pelosi said in a statement afterward.
Mr. Trump later took aim at the House speaker from his own Twitter account Wednesday morning by sharing or retweeting more than 20 posts criticizing Mrs. Pelosi’s conduct, including several that characterized her as having a “tantrum.”
The image tweeted by Mr. Pompeo originated from an episode of “The Simpsons” that centers around Lisa Simpson entering a children’s “fiercely pro-American” essay-writing contest and winning a trip to compete in the finals in Washington, D.C.
The specific still shared by the president’s top diplomat stems from a scene in which Lisa stumbles upon her congressman receiving a bribe from a logging industry lobbyist, prompting her to rip up her essay and write a new one in its place, titled “Cesspool on the Potomac,” in which she reveals the lawmaker’s corrupt deed.
Lisa ultimately loses the contest, though the congressman is arrested as a result of her essay.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.