Did Elmo get sacked as a result of President Trump’s attempts to defund public media?
A LinkedIn post purportedly written by the lovable red Muppet — in which Elmo says he “was recently laid off because of the federal budget cuts” — has gone viral on social media. A May 7 post by a user on X about Elmo’s alleged layoff notice already has more than 2 million views.
But as you might suspect, the supposed Elmo post did not originate from Sesame Workshop, the not-for-profit company that produces “Sesame Street.” The post appears to have come from an unverified “Elmo from Sesame Street” account that is no longer available on LinkedIn.
A Sesame Workshop spokesperson confirmed to Variety that the post was not from a Sesame Workshop account and that it was taken down by LinkedIn.
In the fake post, according to the version circulating online, “Elmo” wrote: “Hi LinkedIn, Unfortunately Elmo was recently laid off because of the federal budget cuts. Elmo worked at Sesame Street for 45 years. Elmo is sad. Elmo loved his time at Sesame Street.”
The post continued, “Elmo is going to miss his friends Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Ernie, Bert, Abby, Grover, Count and so many more. They made Elmo’s day so much better. Elmo is looking for his next opportunity. Elmo is good at so many things. Like hugs. Elmo LOVES giving hugs. Elmo can also recognize the letter E, spell his name, feel empathy, sing ‘Elmo’s Song’ and ask how you are doing. Elmo is open to full-time or freelance roles.”
The “Elmo” post on LinkedIn also said that “if you want to help Elmo and his friends, please urge your local congress person to save Public Media.”
Trump last week issued an executive order to block all federal funding to PBS and NPR, alleging they have produced “biased and partisan news coverage.” In response, PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger said in a statement, “The President’s blatantly unlawful Executive Order, issued in the middle of the night, threatens our ability to serve the American public with educational programming, as we have for the past 50-plus years. We are currently exploring all options to allow PBS to continue to serve our member stations and all Americans.”
Elmo has been a figure in the effort by conservative to cut off public media funding. At a congressional hearing called by House Republicans in March, Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) said that “instead of a serious hearing, we’re here to attack NPR and PBS.”
During his questioning, Garcia evoked Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s efforts in the 1940s and ’50s to root out suspected Communists in the U.S. government. Garcia asked Kerger, who had been called to testify before the House of Representative’s Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee: “The American people want to know: Is Elmo now, or has he ever been, a member of the Communist Party of the United States? A yes or no.”
Kerger, chuckling, responded, “No.” Garcia followed up with, “Are you sure, Ms. Kerger? Because he’s obviously red.” Said Kerger, “Well, he is a puppet, but no.” Garcia also asked if Cookie Monster was “silencing pro-cookie voters,” to which Kerger said, “Cookies are sometimes food.”
Commenting on the issue of federal funding for public media, Sesame Workshop said in a statement, “Sesame Workshop and PBS have a shared commitment to using the power of public television to bring critical early learning to children across the country. For more than half a century, we have been proud to partner with them to bring ‘Sesame Street’s’ beloved characters and research-based curriculum to families nationwide. We remain firmly in support of the vital public investment that allows PBS to continue this important work.”