NBC's Andrea Mitchell tries to dunk on Ted Cruz and embarrasses herself instead



Veteran NBC journalist Andrea Mitchell attempted to dunk on Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and instead manifested her own literary ignorance.

Mitchell made the embarrassing gaffe on Wednesday in a tweet intending to mock Cruz for making a famous literary reference.

.@SenTedCruz says #ImpeachmentTrial is like Shakespeare full of sound and fury signifying nothing. No, that’s Faulkner
— Andrea Mitchell (@Andrea Mitchell)1613000798.0

".@SenTedCruz says #ImpeachmentTrial is like Shakespeare full of sound and fury signifying nothing. No, that's Faulkner," tweeted Mitchell.

But, as so many noted on Twitter, Cruz was in fact correct and Mitchell didn't realize that William Faulkner had lifted the title of his book from one the Bard's plays.

"Faulkner got it from Shakespeare (who put it in the mouth of a murderer, incidentally)," corrected Ramesh Ponnuru of the American Enterprise Institute.

"Smug condescension levitating above an abyss of ignorance," responded Blake Masters.

Cruz took the opportunity to chide Mitchell with another Shakespeare quote, this one from Hamlet.

"Methinks she doth protest too much," tweeted Cruz, adding the reference to his tweet.

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."
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 11, 2021

"Touché," responded Mitchell who added an apology after her original tweet.

"I clearly studied too much American literature and not enough Macbeth. My apologies to Sen. Cruz," tweeted Mitchell.

The Shakespearian Twitter feud followed upon a statement from Cruz deriding the impeachment trial in the Senate against former President Donald Trump.

"I think we'll see the trial continue for the rest of the week. It is reminiscent of Shakespeare that it is full of sound and fury and yet signifying nothing. I think are you going to see a lot of partisan table pounding. You're going to see a lot of effort to pull on emotion. We saw the beginning of that with the Hollywood video that the House managers began with. I think we'll see a lot more of that today and tomorrow," said Cruz on Fox News Tuesday.

He went on to say that it was nearly impossible for Democrats to convict the president in the Senate since so many Republicans had already vocalized their opposition to the proceeding which has a two thirds majority bar to pass.

On Wednesday, senators saw new footage from the U.S. Capitol rioting, including one video showing how close Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) was to a confrontation with the violent rioters.

Here's more about the Senate trial:

It's the second day of Donald Trump's second impeachment trial — Here's what happenedwww.youtube.com

Georgia secretary of state opens formal inquiry into controversial Trump phone call about election results



Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that his office was investigating the controversial phone call made by former President Donald Trump to him about the results of the presidential election.

Raffensperger made the announcement Monday through a spokesperson, according to a CNN article.

"The Secretary of State's office investigates complaints it receives," said Walter Jones, a spokesperson for Raffensperger. "The investigations are fact-finding and administrative in nature. Any further legal efforts will be left to the Attorney General."

Critics of the president pounced on a leaked recording of the Jan. 2 phone call between Trump and Raffensperger where it appeared that the former president was asking him to change the results of the election and declare him the winner of the state's electoral votes.

The recording was published by the Washington Post in early January.

"The people of Georgia are angry, the people in the country are angry," Trump said on the recording. "And there's nothing wrong with saying, you know, um, that you've recalculated."

In another part of the recording , Trump tells Raffensperger to "find" more votes for him.

"So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have," Trump said on the call. "Because we won the state."

Democrats and other opponents of Trump said that the call proved he was trying to illegally change the results of the election. Trump later said there was nothing wrong with the call.

The findings of the inquiry could be turned over to the state's board of election, which is controlled by Republicans, and they would determine whether to refer the matter for prosecution or not.

In December, Trump retweeted from his now-defunct account a claim by attorney Lin Wood that Raffensperger would be arrested and imprisoned for not changing the results of the election. He also falsely claimed that the brother of Raffensperger worked for China, but that was widely debunked.

Georgia is mentioned 50 times in a 50-page supporting document for the impeachment trial, WXIA-TV reported, and the state will play a major role in the argument to convict Trump in the trial. The impeachment trial begins Tuesday.

Here's more about Georgia's role in the impeachment trial:

Trump impeachment trial preview: Georgia will play central role in prosecutors' argumentswww.youtube.com

Nebraska GOP drafts censure against Ben Sasse in anticipation of his vote in the impeachment trial and he just responded



Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska is the target of a draft resolution by the Republican party in his home state in anticipation of his vote in the Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.

Sasse has been a vocal critic of the president but even though he hasn't declared how he will vote in the Senate trial, the Republican party of Nebraska has readied itself to express their disapproval.

"Senator Ben Sasse has persistently engaged in public acts of ridicule and calumny against President Donald J. Trump, through both the spoken and written word, questioning the president's agenda, decisions, motives, and competency," the resolution says according to a draft copy obtained by News Channel Nebraska.

On Thursday, Sasse responded in a video posted to social media.

"I listen to Nebraskans every day, and very few them are as angry about life, as some of the people on this committee. Not all of you, but a lot," said Sasse.

"Political addicts don't represent most Nebraska conservatives. When Melissa and I first ran back in '14, we spoke with hundreds of thousands across this gorgeous state and we promised to speak out when our leaders, not just Democrats, but any leader in any party crossed the line. We pledged to put the constitution above party politics. You have me standing ovations," he added.

"But many of the same party officials who applauded in '14 cussed me out in '16 when I refused to vote for candidate Trump, and again when I declined to serve on his re-election committee in '19, and again when I didn't vote for him in '20," he continued.

Sasse went on to accuse Trump of causing the "shameful mob violence" at the U.S. Capitol because of the false claims he made about the results of the election.

He lied about the election results for 60 days, despite losing 60 straight court challenges — many handed down by wonderful Trump-appointed judges.
He lied by saying that the vice president could violate his constitutional oath and just declare a new winner.
He then riled a mob that attacked the Capitol — many chanting 'Hang Pence.'
If that president were a Democrat, we both know how you'd respond. But, because he had 'Republican' behind his name, you're defending him.

He then touted his conservative record and pointed out that more Nebraskans voted for him than voted for Trump in the 2020 election.

"You are welcome to censure me again, but let's be clear about why this is happening. It's because I still believe, as you used to, that politics is not about the weird worship of one dude. The party could purge Trump skeptics, but I'd like to convince you that not only is that civic cancer for our nation, but it's terrible for our party," he continued.

"We can lead again, but only if our party is willing to change," Sasse concluded. "We're gonna have to choose between conservatism and madness. Between just trolling and actually persuading the rising generation of Americans again. That's what I'm focused on."

Trump is unlikely to be convicted since the Constitution stipulates two-thirds of the Senate are needed, and many have already Republicans have signaled that they support the former president.

Here's the video of Sasse's respond to the Nebraska GOP:

Message to Nebraska GOP State Central Committeewww.youtube.com