'Sesame Street?' Jake Tapper corners Republican on cutting 'radically left wing' PBS

30 April

CNN Anchor Jake Tapper asks Rep. Brandon Gill for the source of GOP beef with public television (ScreenGrab/YouTube)

CNN Anchor Jake Tapper showed surprise at the hostility Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) had against children’s television today.

“The American people are sick of funding institutions who promote values that they find repugnant, and that's what we're doing with NPR and PBS, and that's what we are doing hopefully soon via a rescission bill, We’re going to pull those funds back,” said the Texas representative.

“Okay, but Sesame Street? I mean, Daniel the Tiger Wild Kratts,” asked Tapper. “I mean, you have little kids, I know, and I’m sure you and your wife can bring them great educational programing, but a lot of kids might not have access to cable. I didn't when I was little because cable didn't exist. But, I mean, PBS really helps little kids. I'm talking specifically about kids learning how to read through Sesame Street and similar programing.”

Gill pointed out that Sesame Street now plays on HBO, without mentioning PBS still runs reruns of the show. Nor did he discuss the myriad of other shows filling PBS’ daily educational line-up, or the channel’s use by elementary school teachers as a supplemental classroom learning tool.

“What I don't think the government should be doing is funding these institutions that are radically left wing and are oftentimes, even in their cartoon shows, geared towards young children, promoting far left ideologies that are not teaching children how to read but are teaching them the trans agenda and other things that large portions of our country do not agree with.”

‘Sesame Street’ irritated Mississippi segregationists, who tried to ban the program in 1970 because it aired white and Black youth sharing the same setting and freely interacting, and supported a racially diverse cast. The series had only been on the air for a few months when the all-white Mississippi Authority for Educational Television proposed the state legislature halt funding of its state portion.

The public television outlet continues its inclusive trend today, featuring programming recognizing multi-cultural and LGBTQ+ perspectives. This year, President Donald Turmp, who’s presence forced the NFL to remove the words ‘End Racism’ from a football field, drafted a memo to Congress outlining its intent to end nearly all federal funding for public media, which includes NPR and PBS.

Watch the video below, or by clicking here.

- YouTubeyoutu.be

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