CNN’s Jim Acosta joked on Sunday about CPAC banning multiple Sesame Street characters from attending the conservative event in 2022, due to their public encouragement to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
CPAC tweeted a poster image on Wednesday that advertised that Big Bird, Bert, and Ernie are all “not invited” to the event. Elmo was banned in an earlier tweet as well.
“I wish we were making this up,” Acosta said. “This is not The Onion.”
Big Bird & Big Gov. Mandates?
NO Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.THANK Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Clik here to view.— CPAC 2022 (@CPAC) November 18, 2021
Several rightwing figures were upset over a tweet from Big Bird encouraging 5-11 children to get the Covid vaccine, with some accusing Sesame Street of “propaganda.” Some characters have also promoted the vaccine through a PSA video and related social media posts.
Acosta went on to joke: “When I went to CPAC, it didn’t go well either, and I’m not a Sesame Street character, despite what some people might think.”
CNN senior political analyst Kirsten Powers then criticized the move, saying, “This is what excites voters that you have to have such purity tests that you use it for puppets, is just taking it to a new level.”
She added, “It can seem funny except for the fact that people die because they listen to this kind of stuff that people believe that getting a vaccine is not good for them or not necessary.”
Acosta remarked that “there was a certain level of trolling that always existed at CPACs,” but these latest developments were “so bizarre.”
He then asked former Fox News Digital Politics Editor Chris Stirewalt about how CPAC events have changed over the years, to which Stirewalt replied that “it’s not a place for ideas anymore.”
“Well, it’s very Oscar the Grouch of them to ban Big Bird,” Acosta then said.
Watch above, via Fox News.
The post Acosta Jokes About CPAC Banning Sesame Street Characters For Promoting Covid Vaccine: ‘Very Oscar the Grouch of Them to Ban Big Bird’ first appeared on Mediaite.