As per usual, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is accusing someone of “grooming,” but this time Decoratic congressman Robert Garcia cleverly used humor to refute her ridiculous claims.
At Wednesday’s Republican-led congressional hearing about alleged bias at PBS and NPR, titled “Anti-American Airwaves: Holding the Heads of NPR and PBS Accountable,” Greene used her opening remarks to label the public broadcasters as “radical, left-wing echo chambers” and accused them of “grooming and sexualizing” children.
Not one to miss an opportunity to be funny while calling out Republicans, Garcia asked satirical questions meant to roast the GOP when members of the House were questioning PBS CEO Paula Kerger.
Leaning into comparisons between MAGA’s rhetoric and McCarthyism, the gay representative asked Kerger if “is Elmo now, or has he ever been, a member of the Communist Party of the United States?” before reminding everyone that “he’s obviously red” and “has a very dangerous message about sharing and helping each other.”
According to NBC 15, Garcia named dropped other Sesame Street regulars when he asked if Cookie Monster is “silencing pro-cookie voters,” asked if Cookie Monster’s job was in jeopardy because of Robert F Kennedy Jr.’s hatred of fast food, and wondered if Big Bird should be canned in light of Elon Musk firing "USDA workers who have been working on the bird flu.”
But the highlight of the hearing was when Garcia showed a blown up picture of Bert and Ernie, and asked if they are part of the “extreme homosexual agenda?”
“These two guys actually live together,” he said. “They’re friends. They’re supportive of each other. Now, that might be triggering to [MTG] and some on this committee … Are Bert and Ernie part of an extreme homosexual agenda?”
Garcia finished by pointing out that attempting to defund public broadcasters is no laughing matter. “The fact that we’re sitting here talking about defunding public television is actually not funny,” he said while displaying an image of Musk. “If we’re going to get rid of any puppeteers, we should get rid of the one that’s actually controlling Donald Trump. Fire Elon Musk and save Elmo.”
