Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas chastised Hillary Clinton on Tuesday for defending Big Bird, whom Cruz had branded a propagandist when the Sesame Street character revealed he had received his COVID-19 shot.
"Captured in the wild, rare image of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch…," Cruz said in response to Clinton posting a joint photo with Big Bird from the time when Clinton was the first lady.
Clinton noted in the post that Big Bird is all about teaching kids some things, "like how to stay healthy. That's it."
Big Bird's tweet came days after the FDA approved Pfizer's COVID vaccine for children aged five to 11, prompting accusations online by some critics that the muppet was attempting to promote vaccinations on kids.
Opponents argue that the protection vaccines provide is questionable considering the risk of side effects or the presumably harmless nature of a COVID-19 infection in young children.
Democratic politicians and celebrities have come to the rescue of Big Bird, supporting the vaccination of kids against COVID-19. Even President Biden took to Twitter to congratulate the character, assuring that a jab "is the best way to keep your whole neighborhood safe."
However, the Texas senator was apparently not impressed, tweeting: "We always knew the media were the Dems' puppets, but this is getting ridiculous."
Prior to that, he shared a gif showing the big Muppet looking terrifying and knocking on someone's door.
Seth McFarlane, creator of the popular animated series Family Guy, was among those who criticized Cruz in response to his claims, saying that Big Bird was "smarter than Ted Cruz." So too, in his opinion, was most of the Sesame Street cast.
"Well, every one of those is a puppet, most with a hand inserted up their backside," Cruz replied to McFarlane.
But this was not the end of it: Cruz also clashed in a debate with renowned women's rights and vaccine advocate, actress Alyssa Milano, who wrote that she did not "have Ted Cruz trolling Big Bird on my 2021 bingo card."
The belligerent senator replied, "I didn’t have Joe Biden enlisting muppets in his crusade to force everyone to get vaccinated on my bingo card either."
Then, in a series of tweets, Cruz explained his position on vaccine safety and effectiveness for kids, and also discussed whether children getting vaccinated should really be the choice of parents.
On Monday, Cruz introduced legislation prohibiting the federal government from imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates on children, even in public schools. In a statement, he added that kids' parents "should have the right to decide what is best for their children in consultation with their family doctor."