Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) dubbed Hillary Clinton “Oscar the Grouch” after she fired back at his tweet criticizing Sesame Street for promoting COVID-19 vaccines.
Cruz sounded off on the children’s show after the character Big Bird tweeted that he had gotten the shot in his wing.
The Texas senator retweeted the message, calling it “government propaganda” targeting young children and accusing Democrats of using media to push their agenda.
Clinton, a former first lady, secretary of State and presidential nominee, hit Cruz over his tweets, sending a message of retort with a photo of her alongside Big Bird.
“It’s a bird that teaches children things. Like how to stay healthy. That’s it,” she wrote.
Cruz then responded to the photo, comparing Clinton to the Muppet character who lives in a trash can.
“Captured in the wild, rare image of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch,” Cruz captioned his tweet.
The back-and-forth comes just days after the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use in children aged 5 to 11. The recent authorization marks a major accomplishment for public health officials, who have long pushed for extended eligibility to include children.