Ted Cruz drew online attention after he shot a barb at a classic Sesame Street character for getting vaccinated.
Sesame Street icon Big Bird wrote Saturday on Twitter, “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.”
However, the tweet drew a lot of attention from conservative commentators, most notably Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
“Government propaganda…for your 5-year-old!” The senator tweeted in response.
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Government propaganda…for your 5 year old! https://t.co/lKUlomnpq1
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) November 6, 2021
Big Bird’s tweet was released as CNN was hosting a Town Hall event where Dr. Sanjay Gupta spoke with Big Bird and Granny Bird about getting vaccinated. The Town Hall was released after U.S. officials authorized the COVID-19 vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds.
Newsmax host Steve Cortes tweeted “This kind of propaganda is actually evil” and told parents, “Do Not Comply!”
This kind of propaganda is actually evil.
Your children are not statistically at risk, and should not be pressured into a brand new treatment.
Do Not Comply! https://t.co/cnS1GAqowi
— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) November 6, 2021
This is not the first time Big Bird has received a vaccine or promoted vaccines to a younger audience. The Muppet Wiki account tweeted out a clip from 1972, when Big Bird encouraged children to “Don’t wait…Vaccinate!”
Big Bird gets vaccinated, 1972 pic.twitter.com/M2mdmmjZ0N
— Muppet Wiki (@MuppetWiki) November 6, 2021
Cruz later tweeted that he found the liberal response to his tweet “Weird.”
Liberals are weird.
They don’t care about open borders.
Or rising inflation.
Or schools covering up sexual assaults.
Or the disaster of Afghanistan.
Or tyrannical Dems violating medical privacy & freedom.
But criticize Big Bird? And they lose their sh**. ??♂️ https://t.co/KdiRfQW4Du
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) November 7, 2021
Others defended Big Bird’s tweets, noting how “Kids seeing six-year-old Big Bird get a shot helps them understand what is happening.”
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While some parents are hesitant to give their children vaccines due to the low infection and death rate, the American Academy of Pediatrics warns that “there is an urgent need to collect more data on longer-term impacts of the pandemic on children, including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children.”
