The Trump administration’s new communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, is one of the biggest proponents of fighting against “fake news,” but a slip-up is causing some to question that stance.
A tweet from 2012 made the rounds on the social media platform Friday after Scaramucci’s first press briefing. In it, he attributes an inspirational quote to Mark Twain.
“Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening…” You know the rest.
https://twitter.com/Scaramucci/status/213702657687293952
It’s a famous quote — mostly seen nowadays on inspirational T-shirts — but no, Twain didn’t say it.
The quote is sometimes attributed to the author online, although there’s no basis for it. Most likely, the quote is from William Purkey, an author and professor of education at the University of North Carolina, Grensboro.
The website, Quote Investigator, did their own research. The Yale Book of Quotations credits an earlier version of the quote to Susanna Clark and Richard Leigh, who co-wrote a song “Come From the Heart,” which includes the following similar lyrics:
You’ve got to sing like you don’t need the money
Love like you’ll never get hurt
You’ve got to dance like nobody’s watchin’
It’s gotta come from the heart if you want it to work.
Purkey is credited with another version of the same quote, which is the one that Scaramucci is attributing to famous author and prominent member of the realism and naturalism movements, Mark Twain.
Even if you didn’t do a quick Google search, does this sound like a quote from the man who said, “life is purgatory at all times, & a swindle & a crime — yesterday it was hell” and “Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.” He’s still poetic and many of his quotes can go on T-shirts — or your Twitter profile — but the quote Scaramucci attributed to Twain doesn’t match with his sarcastic and pragmatic writing style.
So, whoever said it, it most likely wasn’t Twain.
Either way, check out some other misquoted sayings that people are using to make fun of Scaramucci’s mistake.
"When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears" -Albert Einstein— Mara Wilson (@MaraWilson) July 21, 2017
"Showin' how funky and strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it" — Winston Churchill— Patrick Thornton (@pwthornton) July 21, 2017
Despacito
Quiero respirar tu cuello despacito
Deja que te diga cosas al oído
Para que te acuerdes si no estás conmigoitter – Robert Frost— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) July 21, 2017
Scaramucci, former Wall Street entrepreneur and Trump campaign adviser, was the subject of a CNN story that claimed there was a link between him and the Russia Direct Investment Fund. That story was later retracted after the network decided it couldn’t stand by the reporting and three employees resigned.
The communications director appeared on “Fox & Friends” soon after speaking out against CNN. He called the Russia stories “nonsense.”
“Once you start to lose your integrity and your reputation as a news organization, people start to get tone deaf,” he said.
Just remember Scaramucci, you can’t trust anything you read online. I believe Abraham Lincoln said that.