Sen. Ted Cruz‘s war on Sesame Street resumed Tuesday after the Texas Republican saw that the fictional muppet Elmo had been vaccinated against COVID-19.
‘Thanks, @sesamestreet for saying parents are allowed to have questions! You then have @elmo aggressively advocate for vaccinating children UNDER 5,’ Cruz tweeted. ‘But you cite ZERO scientific evidence for this.’
Elmo, who’s been a Sesame Street character for decades, is only age 3.
The Sesame Street Twitter account posted a video earlier Tuesday that encouraged parents to talk to their pediatricians if they had concerns about vaccinating young children, as those shots became available earlier this month.
Sen. Ted Cruz’s war on Sesame Street resumed Tuesday after the Texas Republican saw that the fictional muppet Elmo had been vaccinated against COVID-19
Sen. Ted Cruz and other Republican lawmakers have questioned the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to approve COVID-19 vaccines for children under 5, pointing out that they’re at little risk for severe COVID disease
In November, the Texas Republican also took issue with Sesame Street promoting COVID-19 vaccines. ‘Government propaganda … for your 5 year old!’ he wrote after Big Bird volunteered he’d been vaccinated
The video uses Elmo and his dad Louie discussing Louie’s decision to have his son vaccinated.
‘It’s okay to have questions about COVID-19 vaccines for children! Elmo’s dad Louie talked to their pediatrician, and learned that Elmo getting vaccinated is the best way to keep him and his whole neighborhood safe and healthy!’ the tweet said.
Cruz referred people to his website and a letter he and other Republican lawmakers had written in early June questioning Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf and members of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee on the need for COVID vaccines for those under five to be approved under an Emergency Use Authorization.
Among the questions the GOP lawmakers wanted answerd was ‘how will the FDA evaluate potential tradeoffs of serious vaccine injuries versus serious COVID outcomes?’
Cruz’s Tuesday tweet comes after he said in November that Sesame Street was spreading ‘Government propaganda…for your 5 year old!’
The offense then was a tweet sent out by Big Bird, who revealed he had been vaccinated.
‘I got the COVID-19 vaccine today! My wing is feeling a little sore, but it’ll give my body an extra protective boost that keeps me and others healthy,’ Big Bird said, adding that he had been told that he had been receiving vaccines against illnesses ‘since I was a little bird.’
‘I had no idea!’ Big Bird volunteered.
Sen. Ted Cruz’s take-down of Big Bird was quickly parodies on Saturday Night Live with Aidy Bryant (right) playing the Texas Republican and Pete Davidson (left) as Joe Rogan stopping be ‘Cruz Street’ to bring Big Bird ‘horse medicine’ and Zinc to treat COVID-19
Cruz’s attempted take-down of Big Bird was quickly parodied on Saturday Night Live.
‘I’m Texas senator and last-one-invited-to-Thanksgiving Ted Cruz,’ said cast member Aidy Bryant. ‘For 50 years I stood by as Sesame Street taught our children dangerous ideas like numbers and kindness, but when Big Bird told children to get vaccinated against a deadly disease I said enough.’
Bryant’s Cruz created ‘Cruz Street.’
‘It’s a gated community, where children are safe from the woke government,’ the SNL performer said. ‘Grab an eagle and a gun!’ she added, singing along with Cruz Street’s children’s group.
Later in the skit, Pete Davidson appears as controversial podcast host Joe Rogan peddling ‘horse medicine’ and Zinc to a Big Bird complaining about vaccine side effects.