During the 2012 United States presidential election debates, Mitt Romney referenced Big Bird with relation to funding for PBS, when addressing moderator Jim Lehrer: "I'm sorry, Jim, I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I'm going to stop other things. I like PBS, I love Big Bird. Actually like you, too. But I'm not going to -- I'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for. That's number one."
US Presidential incumbent Barack Obama commented on the remarks at multiple stops. First, in Denver after the debate, on October 4th, he jokingly commented "Thank goodness someone is finally getting tough on Big Bird. We didn't know Big Bird was leading the federal deficit."[1] In Fairfax, Virginia on October 5, he addressed the issue again in similar language. "For all you moms and kids out there, don't worry: somebody is finally getting tough on Big Bird. Rounding him up. Elmo's got to watch out too. Governor Romney plans to let Wall Street run wild again, but bring the hammer down on Sesame Street." (YouTube)
Romney clarified that, "I'm not going to kill Big Bird, but there's going to be ads on PBS, to pay for Big Bird." He also commented "He's going to have to get used to Kellogg's Corn Flakes." [cite]
Sesame Workshop and PBS response
Sesame Workshop released a blog post in response:
Sherri Westin of Sesame Workshop appeared on CNN Thursday morning, October 4th, to clarify:
Big Bird himself indirectly referenced the remarks on Twitter: "Big Bird: My bed time is usually 7:45, but I was really tired yesterday and fell asleep at 7! Did I miss anything last night?"
Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Piers Morgan, Today, and Good Morning America all offered appearance spots to Big Bird. While it was said that Sesame Workshop declined all offers,[2] Big Bird did make a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live on October 6, 2012.[3] Avoiding any direct political statement, the bird discussed all of the tweets he got and his sudden fame (how everyone now looks at him when he goes down the street, when he used to be able to blend in like any other eight-foot tall talking bird) and made one non-partisan political joke (about how debates are really enjoyed by "de fishes").
Editorial cartoons
Other responses
- During the debate, Google's top four rising search term were "Simpson Bowles", "Dodd Frank", "Who is winning the debate", and "Big Bird".[4]
- Social media responses cited in the media included a Facebook campaign to elect Big Bird president, an Indiegogo campaign, and @FiredBigBird, a parody account with over 31,000 followers. According to USA Today: "the Twitter Government account, @gov, tweeted that the phrase "Big Bird" had generated about 17,000 tweets per minute."
Sources
- ↑ Raw Story. Edwards, David. "Obama: ‘Thank goodness somebody is finally getting tough on Big Bird’." Thursday, October 4th, 2012
- ↑ Huffington Post: Big Bird Asked To Appear On Jimmy Fallon, Piers Morgan And More
- ↑ Mediaite: Big Bird Responds To Mitt Romney On SNL (includes video)
- ↑ http://dailycaller.com/2012/10/04/big-bird-a-top-google-search-during-presidential-debate/