Ted Cruz Has Issue With a 2nd Vaccinated Muppet

First Big Bird, now Elmo
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 29, 2022 11:33 AM CDT
Ted Cruz Airs New Beef With Sesame Street
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is shown on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Ted Cruz is tangling with Sesame Street for the second time since November, taking to Twitter to complain about a new video involving Elmo and his dad talking about the younger Muppet's COVID vaccine. In the minute-long video tweeted Tuesday morning by Sesame Street, Elmo's dad Louie tells his son he was "super-duper today, getting your COVID vaccine Elmo." Louie goes on to express that he had some questions about whether it was the right move, but a conversation with Elmo's pediatrician helped him realize that Elmo's vaccination would keep both Elmo and those they love safe. Cruz tweeted a critical response Tuesday afternoon.

"Thanks, @sesamestreet for saying parents are allowed to have questions! You then have @elmo aggressively advocate for vaccinating children UNDER 5. But you cite ZERO scientific evidence for this," Cruz wrote. He included a link to a press release in which he "demanded answers" from the FDA about its approval of the vaccine for that group of kids.

The Sesame Street video makes no mention of age, but the Washington Post reports Elmo has been 3 1/2 years old since 1984. The Guardian writes that the video "aims to alleviate the anxiety that even some pro-vaccine parents may feel about Covid-19 vaccines for children as young as six months old that were approved earlier this month." In November, Cruz took issue with the vaccination of Big Bird, who was depicted as a 6-year-old. (More Ted Cruz stories.)

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