Over the weekend, Sesame Street star Elmo appeared with his father (Louie) on CNN to discuss the power of protest. Specifically, this involved Elmo learning about why Black Lives Matter has taken to the streets against racism and police brutality, and why “not all streets are like Sesame Street… because across the country, people of color, especially in the Black community, are being treated unfairly because of how they look, their culture, their race, and who they are.” Louie further explained that people have “every right to be” upset “because racism is a huge problem in our country,” and the segment was warmly regarded by many, but that does not include (surprise!) Tucker Carlson.
The Fox News host is absolutely furious at Sesame Street and CNN and even at Elmo. Carlson, as ludicrous as it sounds, lashed out on Tuesday night over a pair of puppets, who were ultimately urging support for Black Lives Matter:
“It’s a children’s show. Got that, Bobby? America is a very bad place and it’s your fault, so no matter what happens, no matter what they do to you when you grow up, you have no right to complain. That’s the message and it starts very young.”
Tucker Carlson attacks Elmo pic.twitter.com/KTkycca7SP
— Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) June 10, 2020
Not incidentally, Elmo will soon host his own late-night talk show on HBO Max (which announced this week that it’s temporarily pulling Gone With The Wind over “racist depictions”). Tucker will probably also be angry about both this movie being shelved and Elmo scoring a late-night gig, and while we shouldn’t expect Elmo to indulge Tucker with any airtime on his show, it’s at least fun to imagine them going toe-to-toe.