It’s hard not to feel bad for Anthony Scaramucci the same way you feel bad for the Rat King when he dies at the end of “The Nutcracker.” But unlike the Rat King, who presumably goes to rat hell after the final curtain falls, Scaramucci is still here to remind us why we hated him in the first place.

On Wednesday, Scaramucci thought it would be wise to try his hand at what we English majors like to call a “metaphor.”

For those of you unfamiliar with the saga of Linda Tripp, she was the woman to whom Monica Lewinsky admitted her affair with Bill Clinton, under the impression that Tripp was a friend. Had Tripp not betrayed Lewinsky in cold blood by sharing news of that affair with the world, Lewinsky’s life might be very different right now. To invoke Tripp’s name is to accuse someone of the ultimate betrayal.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t take an English degree from a four-year liberal arts college to notice that there is something a little off about comparing Tripp to Ryan Lizza, the New Yorker reporter who published the bananas phone conversation with Scaramucci that eventually led to his firing.

Reactions to the tweet ranged from crude:

To measured:

To pedagogical:

Even Monica Lewinsky herself took a moment out of the busy and fulfilled life that Scaramucci wishes he had to respond to the tweet:

Perhaps Scaramucci would be better off spending his time lost in the pages of Oprah’s favorite self-help book instead of tweeting his feelings.

Becky Scott is the editor of The Schmooze. Follow her on Twitter, @arr_scott

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