By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) – The actress who voiced Lisa Simpson for the past three decades tore into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday after the top diplomat attempted to troll House Speaker Nancy Pelosi using a Simpsons meme.
Pompeo used his personal Twitter account to post an image of Lisa Simpson tearing up an essay while she wept with the simple subtitle of "sobbing" in the frame. The meme was an apparent reference to Pelosi, who just hours earlier tore up a copy of U.S. President Donald Trump's State of the Union Address as soon as he finished.
The image Pompeo posted is from "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington," the second episode of the long-running television show's third season.
In the American political satire, Lisa tears up an essay she wrote for a national children's competition after she sees a corrupt congressman accepting a bribe from a logging industry lobbyist, shattering the starry-eyed view of Washington and American democracy generally that had once inspired her essay.
"That’s pretty good! I might just add f*ck you @mikepompeo for co-opting my character to troll @SpeakerPelosi," Yeardley Smith, the woman who is the voice of Lisa Simpson, tweeted in response. "Be a leader and fight [your] own fight! Oh, wait I forgot, you’re a follower."
Former Simpsons show-runner and writer Bill Oakley also lashed out at Pompeo, saying in slightly more referential language: "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."
Simpsons fans further questioned whether Pompeo understood the context of the meme he posted.
"Thank you for paying tribute to Speaker Pelosi. This is literally the moment in the episode 'Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington' where Lisa Simpson loses faith in democracy after she discovers her congressman is corrupt. Such a perfect self-own," @davitydave tweeted accompanied by a hypnotic gif of a Simpsons scene that repeatedly zooms into itself.
In a retweet of Pompeo's original post @NGSJDoc added, "When a politician unintentionally plays himself 😂. Should’ve watched the episode, bro."
The White House has strongly criticized Pelosi's actions, saying that in ripping up a copy of Trump's speech she tore asunder several things mentioned by the president, and adding "That's her legacy."
