Republicans' Elmo Stunt Backfires Spectacularly
The Daily Beast • • entertainment
Key Points:
- Republicans showed newfound support for Elmo after he appeared in a FIFA World Cup video wearing a USA soccer jersey and expressing patriotic sentiments, prompting House GOP members to call him a “certified PATRIOT.”
- The GOP embraced Elmo’s pro-America message despite previously criticizing Sesame Street and public broadcasting as “woke” and defunding PBS and NPR under the Trump administration.
- Critics highlighted the hypocrisy of Republicans celebrating Elmo while having voted to defund PBS and labeling Sesame Street as politically biased.
- The controversy stems from Trump’s May executive order cutting funding to PBS and NPR, including children’s programs like Sesame Street, which PBS challenged in court as unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.
