Republicans got outplayed by Sesame Street's Elmo — and critics won't let them forget it

Systemic Error Podcast · Jul 2, 2026 · 3m

Elmo Was Never the Point. Control Was.The SetupHouse Republicans tried to turn an Elmo clip into a cheap patriotism prop, calling the puppet a “certified PATRIOT” and mocking Democrats as if a children’s character had suddenly joined their political tribe. The stunt collapsed almost immediately under its own hypocrisy, because the same movement has spent years attacking Sesame Street and PBS as “woke” and, in Trump’s case, moving to cut federal funding altogether.Who Holds PowerThe people with actual institutional power here are not the online users fact-checking a puppet clip. They are Trump…