First he had a beef with Big Bird, now Ted Cruz is in a flap over pro-vaccine Elmo

His Muppet father, Louie, told Elmo, who was wearing a green bandage on his arm, that he was “super-duper” while getting his shot.

“I had a lot of questions about Elmo getting the Covid vaccine. Was it safe? Was it the right decision? I talked to our paediatrician so I could make the right choice,” Louie says to the camera in a clip shared online on Tuesday. “I learned that Elmo getting vaccinated is the best way to keep himself, our friends, neighbours and everyone else healthy and enjoying the things they love,” he adds, before hugging Elmo.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz shared the clip on Twitter – and blasted the popular children’s show for allowing Elmo to “aggressively advocate for vaccinating children UNDER 5”. He added: “You cite ZERO scientific evidence for this.” The internet was quickly filled with comments on Cruz vs. Elmo, with one person tweeting: “I’m here for the right-wing meltdown because a puppet got vaccinated.”

The US Food and Drug Administration granted emergency-use authorisation to coronavirus vaccines for young children this month. It cleared two vaccines – one by Moderna and the other by Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech – for smaller doses than adults.

Cruz, along with other Republicans, was seeking more answers from the government before the authorisation of the vaccines for children in this age group. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said in announcing its recommendation that the child vaccines have undergone “the most intensive safety monitoring in US history”.

This isn’t the first time Cruz has had a run-in with a high-profile Sesame Street star. He criticised Big Bird last year, when the yellow-feathered creature got his coronavirus shot – a rift that led to a Saturday Night Live parody. “My wing is feeling a little sore, but it’ll give my body an extra protective boost that keeps me and others healthy,” Big Bird, age six, said after his shot. Cruz tweeted that the act was “government propaganda”.

President Joe Biden weighed in, tweeting: “Good on ya, @BigBird. Getting vaccinated is the best way to keep your whole neighbourhood safe.” In a statement, Sesame Workshop, the non-profit educational organisation behind Sesame Street, said the public service advertisement featuring Elmo was part of a series of resources for parents and caregivers “to answer common questions in age-appropriate ways”. Some on Twitter berated Cruz for tweeting about the popular children’s show during the January 6 committee’s hearings. “Why is a US senator watching Sesame Street instead of doing his job?” one wrote.

Some parents said the show had inspired their own children: “Thank you, Elmo! My little girl just got her first dose! I’ll share your video too.” (© Washington Post)