Senator Big Bird? The Twitter account trolling Texas Republican Ted Cruz with a run for Senate
- ‘Sesame Street’ character Big Bird tweeted that he got his coronavirus vaccine, prompting the Trump ally to call it ‘government propaganda’
- The feud inspired a parody account claiming Big Bird is running for US Congress – with other characters of the show, Elmo, Grover and Cookie Monster, helping out
Would you vote for Big Bird for Senate? Photo: Twitter @SenatorBigBirdA US Senator came for a beloved children’s television show character on Twitter – and now that icon is coming for his senate seat.
Last week, Big Bird – the well-known, much-loved giant bird from Sesame Street – got his coronavirus vaccine.
“I got the Covid-19 vaccine today! My wing is feeling a little sore, but it’ll give my body an extra protective boost that keeps me and others healthy,” he tweeted on November 6.
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The US recently approved the BioNTech vaccine for children ages five to 11. This meant Big Bird was finally eligible for the jab – despite his size, he is only six-and-a-half years old, according to the show.
Ted Cruz, a Senator from the US state of Texas, wasn’t a fan of the message, responding to Big Bird’s tweet with “Government propaganda … for your 5 year old!”
As you can imagine, people flocked to social media to mock him.
Since then, a parody account called @SenatorBigBird has popped up, calling for the Muppet to replace Cruz in the Senate.
“As your next Senator, I will never fly away when Texas is in trouble,” reads one tweet from the account.
The tweet refers to an incident in February this year, when Cruz was spotted with his family on a plane to Mexico, where they planned to stay at a luxury hotel. At the time, Texas was experiencing a historic winter storm that left 4.3 million people in the state without power, and many others without drinking water. Both Cruz’ allies and rivals criticised his decision to leave Texas during a crisis, and for travelling internationally during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Since Senator Big Bird’s tweet announcement, parody accounts for other residents of Sesame Street have joined Big Bird’s campaign, with the Count acting as his finance director:
Elmo as his Senior Adviser:
And Cookie Monster as his Campaign Manager:
Cruz, a former presidential candidate and ally of former US President Donald Trump, has long been a controversial figure in American politics.
In 2013, he had a leading role in shutting down the government for 16 days, giving a 21-hour speech to hold up a federal budget bill and defund the Affordable Care Act, a healthcare measure commonly nicknamed Obamacare, which lowered healthcare costs and provided insurance to people who formerly weren’t eligible.
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This year, following the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, Cruz provoked widespread backlash by spreading the claim that the presidential election was stolen from Trump.
Sesame Street has long used its platform to encourage public health measures. In 1972, Big Bird even took part in a “Don’t wait, vaccinate” segment to encourage people to get the measles vaccine.
The US has recorded more than 47 million cases of Covid-19 and more than 762,000 deaths, according to The New York Times and the running counter on Google. Roughly 59 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated.