Many politicians have trouble connecting with the rest of us revolting sewer-dwellers. That's why they love to talk about pop culture, figuring that a brief mention of Iron Man might establish them as a down-to-earth people's champion, just like Tommy Stork himself. But this kind of pandering usually just reveals how out of touch our politicians are, to the point that they don't see any conflict between "Yeah, I love Harry Potter!" and "I'm closing all the schools."

6 Mike Pompeo Doesn't Get The Simpsons At All

The annual State of the Union address is an extremely important event, often supplying enough reaction GIFs to last the nation several months. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi caused significant controversy during this year's SOTU when she was seen tearing up a copy of Donald Trump's speech.

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

The clip cuts off right before, we assume, Speaker Pelosi went on to cup her ear to the crowd and challenge Trump and Vince McMahon to a tag-match at Wrestlemania. Conservatives were outraged since it's a huge break with precedent for something memorable to happen at the SOTU. But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stumbled when his attempt at a catty response revealed he's either a huge Pelosi fan or doesn't understand pop-culture at all.

Pompeo tweeted an image of Lisa Simpson crying and ripping up pieces of paper. It was presumably an attempt to call Pelosi a petulant child, a bold move considering everyone involved in this dispute is approximately 109-years-old. But the attack was especially dumb because the image wasn't just some random kid throwing a tantrum -- it's Lisa Simpson dude. You know, the moral center of the entire show?

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

But it's even worse than that. The scene Pompeo tweeted is from the season 3 episode "Mr. Lisa Goes To Washington," in which Lisa wins a contest and gets to read her winning essay at the national finals in Washington DC. However her idealism is crushed when she witnesses a corrupt congressman taking a bribe. The image depicts her as she tears up her original essay praising America's political system and writes a new one calling out Washington graft. In other words, Pompeo tweeted a picture of a brilliant, morally upright character tearing up a speech out of disgust with corrupt politics. It might actually be the nicest thing a Republican has ever said about Nancy Pelosi.

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

Naturally, Pompeo was widely mocked for his GIF gaffe. One person who was less than amused was legendary Simpsons writer Bill Oakley, who demanded that Pompeo "please do not ever ever ever use Simpsons material in your twitter or watch the show or refer to it in any way." Given the whole debacle, he's probably happy to oblige.