CPAC is banned “Sesame Street” characters like Elmo, Big Bird, Bert and Ernie from its 2022 GOP conference Thursday, after the Muppets endorsed vaccinations for children — and Jimmy Kimmel had a field day mercilessly mocking the move on late-night TV.
“The latest thing that the anti-cancel crowd wants to cancel is ‘Sesame Street,’”Kimmel spoke during his Thursday “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” monologue. “After Big Bird endorsed vaccinations for kids, and that made everybody mad. So now the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, announced via Twitter that Elmo is not invited to their festivities next year. Elmo is out and so are Big Bird, Bert and Ernie. I love that they think this is clever somehow. But it did get me thinking about with Muppet is the most likely to be a conservative, and I narrowed it down to three.”
“It’s either Sam the Eagle, or one of these two,”Kimmel showed a photo of Waldorf and Statler, who are cantankerous old men best known for sitting on a balcony and making fun at the other Muppets. “I mean, tell me they’re not senators from Oklahoma,”He made a joke.
On Nov. 6, Big BirdTweeted from his official accountthat he had received the COVID-19 vaccine, adding that it would give his body “an extra protective boost that keeps me and others healthy”After each episode of “Sesame Street”This website is dedicated to making sure that children feel comfortable about getting vaccinated. This happened in the aftermath of the FDA’s approval for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 5 and above.
Kimmel joked that while CPAC has banned most Muppets from the February 24-27 Republican party conference, Miss Piggy (or Sen. Ted Cruz, per Kimmel’s photo) is “still invited, especially after she did so great at last year’s event.”
Cruz has himself been mocked for criticizing “Sesame Street”Big Bird and Big Bird for their encouragement to children to get vaccinated for COVID-19.
Kimmel joked that CPAC’s “Sesame Street” ban is going to be unnecessary, because he thinks Rep. Matt Gaetz’s presence would make it impossible for children to attend.
“The truth is, ‘Sesame Street’ wouldn’t have been allowed to be there anyway because by next year, it seems likely Matt Gaetz will be a convicted sex offender,”Kimmel stated.
Watch Kimmel’s full Thursday monologue via the video above.
See CPAC’s Thursday tweets banning “Sesame Street”Below, characters taken from the 2022 GOP Conference.