Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) slammed “Sesame Street” on Wednesday after the popular children’s show promoted COVID-19 vaccines in a recent episode, accusing it of “aggressively” advocating for the inoculations for young kids despite citing “zero scientific evidence.”
The Texas lawmaker shared a recent clip from the show’s Twitter account in which Elmo’s father, Louie, tells his son he was “super-duper” for getting vaccinated before telling the audience the vaccines are safe and effective.
“Thanks sesame street for saying parents are allowed to have questions!” Cruz tweeted. “You then have Elmo aggressively advocate for vaccinating children UNDER 5. But you cite ZERO scientific evidence for this.”
This is the second time in the past year Cruz has called out “Sesame Street,” the longest-running children’s show in the U.S. In November, the senator called a pro-vaccination tweet from the Twitter account for Big Bird “propaganda.”
In the U.S., anyone aged six months and older can now get vaccinated after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna this month.
After a review, the FDA ruled the vaccines for children aged six months and older are both safe and effective. Parents can now get their children vaccinated at doctor’s offices or local pharmacies.
Cruz, however, has taken aim at the FDA over vaccines for the young. The senator, who is vaccinated against COVID-19, penned a letter with other Republican congressional colleagues to the FDA this month questioning if the vaccines were needed and claiming the FDA has a lower efficacy bar for children.
In a statement at the time, Cruz said the “virus poses minimal risk for children” and called on the FDA to require parents be shown data that children are less likely to have serious complications from COVID-19.
The FDA has said young children are still at risk even if they don’t get sick as often and that 442 children younger than five had died from COVID-19 as of the end of May.
“Sesame Street” encouraged families at the end of the episode to get information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to make an informed decision.
