Earlier this week, right-wing media returned to their time honored tradition of publicly freaking out about the beloved educational program Sesame Street, charging that the Biden administration is using the comical over-eater Cookie Monster as part of a woke political agenda to attack innocent corporations — or even more bizarrely, that perhaps President Joe Biden is only responding to inflation in general, and a specific phenomenon known as “shrinkflation,” because of a public protest by the furry puppet character.

The latest iteration of conservatives’ bizarre anti-Sesame Street fixation seemingly began on March 4, when the official X account for everyone’s favorite gluttonous children’s character tweeted a complaint, “Me hate shrinkflation! Me cookies are getting smaller,” then followed up over an hour later, “Guess me going to have to eat double da cookies!” (Perhaps the lovable monster subscribes to his local newspaper, The New York Times, which just published a feature on “shrinkflation” on March 1.)

The White House’s own official account then responded later in the afternoon:

Then, at a White House event on March 5 about fighting corporate price gouging — another topic that has right-wing media attacking the president — Biden further chimed in on shrinking product sizes: “I’ll tell you what — I’ll tell you who did notice: the Cookie Monster. He pointed out cookies are — his cookies are getting smaller. He’s paying the same price. I was stunned when I found out that’s what actually happened.” The president also announced the launch of “a new Strike Force” targeting “Unfair and Illegal Pricing to crack down on companies who break the law while keeping prices high for American consumers.”

Yes, Cookie Monster, big companies are price-gouging

The aforementioned New York Times article on “shrinkflation” found that companies are still reducing package sizes despite inflation having cooled off: “After peaking at 9.1 percent in July 2022, it had eased to 3.1 percent as of January. And consumers might be less willing to accept shrinkflation now that firms are facing less severe cost pressures, especially because food company profits have been — and in many cases remain — high. They may simply feel ripped off.”

“Shrinkflation” is really one aspect of the overall inflation problem — and multiple analyses have found that “greedflation” was an exacerbating factor in inflation these past few years. Following supply chain disruptions as the global economy recovered from the pandemic and an increase in oil prices in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, companies took advantage of the public’s economic alarm to justify further price increases beyond just the increased costs of production.

A study last year by two progressive think tanks in Britain, reported in Fortune, found that corporate profits increased at a faster rate than costs did. Another study reported in Fortune, from the American think tank Groundwork Collaborative, found that profits drove 53% of inflation during the second and third quarters of 2023, and more than one-third overall since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and caused inflation to be 1 to 3 points higher than otherwise might’ve occurred.

Bloomberg recently reported on an analysis by Goldman Sachs finding that companies are quick to raise prices in the face of increased costs, but then slow to actually lower them again once their own costs go back down. An article in The Wall Street Journal in May 2023 actually made the argument for bilking consumers: “‘Greedflation’ Is Real — and Probably Good for the Economy.”

Conservatives breathlessly warn of conspiracy between Biden and Sesame Street to serve his “political agenda”

• During the daily White House press briefing, Fox Business correspondent Edward Lawrence accused the White House of only speaking up about inflation due to Cookie Monster’s post: “Why did it take the Cookie Monster to speak up, or an election year, for this strike force to go?” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre balked at the notion, stating “If anything, it feels like the Cookie Monster is responding to us and what we’ve been saying about shrinkflation.” (Jean-Pierre also laughed at the absurdity of the whole question.) [Fox Business, Kudlow, 3/5/24]
• Fox Business host Brian Brenberg claimed, “Apparently, Cookie Monster gets his [Biden’s] attention,” and exclaimed, “We’re being governed by these people — this is our economic policy, response to Cookie Monster?” Brenberg further claimed that legal costs to corporations from government actions would only further raise costs and prices, “and we’re going to have a worse situation than we have right now, because he wants to look like he’s doing something so Cookie Monster’s cookies don’t get smaller.” [Fox News, The Story with Martha MacCallum, 3/5/24]
• On his radio show, Fox host Sean Hannity criticized Cookie Monster’s dismay at his cookies shrinking, stating “Well, then first off, you don't have to buy them. … If you feel that you're getting ripped off, then don't buy it.” Hannity continued, speculating that Biden will make shrinkflation an integral part of his State of the Union address or even invite Cookie Monster to speak during the speech. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 3/5/24]
• RedState accused Democrats of using childhood icons like Cookie Monster to “spin at us” and “compromise for their political agenda.” The article also feigned shock at Biden speaking out against inflation while implying that he does not give the same attention to border security. [RedState, 3/5/24]
• Appearing on Your World with Neil Cavuto, Wall Street Journal Editor-at-Large Gerry Baker accused the Biden administration of trying to deflect blame for the rate of inflation. Baker asserted, “Nobody buys this silly idea about shrinkflation and Cookie Monsters; it’s just an indication, again, of how desperate I think this administration is.” [Fox News, Your World with Neil Cavuto, 3/5/24]
• Fox News anchor Dana Perino said that Fox host Jesse Watters should do “an investigation” into who operates and is “being political” with the Cookie Monster X account. [Fox News, The Five, 3/5/24]
• CPAC Now host Mercedes Schlapp suggested that Cookie Monster is “now a Democrat.” [Newsmax, Eric Bolling: The Balance, 3/5/24]
• On Fox News’ The Bottom Line, co-host Sean Duffy claimed that “Joe Biden will only respond to the Cookie Monster” on political issues. Duffy continued, questioning whether Cookie Monster should also post about immigration and crime because “maybe Joe Biden will go, ‘Oh these are real issues for the American people,’ because the Cookie Monster said so.” [Fox Business, The Bottom Line, 3/5/24]
• Conservative outlet American Wire asserted that Cookie Monster’s tweet was a coordinated effort and the latest attempt of the Biden administration using entertainers for “gaslighting the American public” into blaming “corporate greed … for consumer woes.” [American Wire, 3/6/24]
• A NewsBusters article also accused the Biden administration and ABC News’ Good Morning America of coordinating with Cookie Monster’s X account to promote an image of inflation being caused by “corporate greed,” which the article asserted as a “cartoonish image” and “a lazy answer.” [NewsBusters, 3/5/24]
• Fox anchor Maria Bartiromo also accused the Biden administration of coordinating with Cookie Monster’s X account, declaring that “I’m not buying that the Cookie Monster is an independent.” Bartiromo also claimed that Biden is more focused on inflation than “migrants being apprehended and committing migrant crime.” [Fox Business, Mornings with Maria Bartiromo, 3/7/24]
• Newsmax host Rob Schmitt claimed that the Cookie Monster account is “spewing Joe Biden’s political talking points.” [Newsmax, Rob Schmitt Tonight, 3/6/24]

Right-wingers regularly attack Sesame Street, because they don’t get the whole point of the show

While right-wing media sees a political conspiracy in the Cookie Monster account’s latest pronouncements on current events, The Washington Post pointed out that the account previously “has appeared to post about Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, has spoken about therapy and has endorsed self-care,” while another recent post from the character Elmo’s account inadvertently started a public dialogue about mental health.

But even deeper than that, the show has always been dedicated to teaching children (and maybe some parents, too) how to get along in a diverse world. “Since 1969, children and adults alike have flocked to the place where multiethnic, multigenerational, and even multispecies residents coexist in harmony,” says a PBS site explaining what the show is all about. “The people on this very special street learn life's lessons together, provide viewers with strong role models, and teach children that everyone brings a special ability to the community. Here, children learn to use their imaginations, build social skills, and respect people's differences.”

All of which is to say, right-wing media has been attacking this cultural treasure of a program for many years.

• “I've always said that Elmo is a groomer”: Right-wing media figures did not appreciate “woke” Elmo teaching children that getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is safe and effective. Elmo and his dad Louie got vaccinated against COVID-19 in June 2022, with Elmo explaining to all of the children at home that he felt okay after “a little pinch” and his dad discussing questions that he talked about with his pediatrician before getting vaccinated. This sensible advice was met with abject paranoia from One America News’ Dan Ball and BlazeTV host Chad Prather. [YouTube, 6/28/22; OAN, Real America with Dan Ball, 7/5/22]

• Fox contributor Sean Duffy claimed that Sesame Street is “trying to indoctrinate your children” when discussing the episode where Elmo gets vaccinated. [Fox News, Fox & Friends First, 6/29/22]

• While discussing the debut of Ji-Young, a Korean-American character, former Fox host Tucker Carlson ranted that “tribalism” has become a part of Sesame Street with the introduction of characters who have unique and identifiable ethnicities. [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 1/7/22]

• During an earlier effort to increase public awareness about the importance of vaccinations, co-hosts on Fox & Friends Weekend claimed that Sesame Street was feeding “propaganda” directly to children. Co-host Rachel Campos- Duffy claimed the programming “looks like a Big Pharma commercial on Sesame Street. It's so creepy.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends Weekend, 11/7/21]

• Carlson devolved into an unhinged rant against Sesame Street’s special on 2020’s George Floyd protests discussing police brutality. On the now-canceled Tucker Carlson Tonight, Carlson accused those fighting against police brutality of “trying to take over your country” and “eliminate our centurieslong tradition of tolerance … and free expression.” Carlson also claimed that said protesters cause “weak leaders” to “reflexively bend to their demands, no matter what those demands are,” citing Sesame Street’s programming to claim that anti-American indoctrination “starts very young.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/9/20]

• Fox News’ Eric Bolling said Sesame Street spreads a “left-wing Communist diatribe,” while reporting on the 46th season of the hit show. [Fox News, The Five, 1/14/16]

• After then-presidential nominee Mitt Romney called for ending federal money for public broadcasting, Fox News called Big Bird a “taker” of federal funding and said it was “time you flew the coop.” Fox News hosts and commentators also called the show a potential “multi-billion dollar goldmine” that “has made more money than a lot of Wall Street firms.” In fact, the Sesame Workshop’s expenses were higher than its revenues. Moreover, all federal funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (not just this one show) made up just 0.012% of the federal budget. [Media Matters, 10/10/12]

• Fox commentator Andrea Tantaros called Muppet programming, including Sesame Street, “brainwashing in the most obvious form.” Tantaros further complained: “I thought Sesame Street was supposed to be sharing and being nice to people, but over the years they've gotten more liberal.” [Fox Business, Follow the Money, 12/2/11]

• Fox host Eric Bolling claimed that Sesame Street was getting “pretty political” and said that showcasing Lily, a character affected by poverty, is too harsh for children to see. Continuing, Bolling questioned whether the show will showcase an “evil Republican or Tea Party-er that they’re going to blame little Lily’s poverty on.” [Fox Business, Follow the Money, 10/7/11]

• Right-wing blogs such as TheBlaze and The Gateway Pundit ridiculed Sesame Street’s new character whose family faced ongoing food insecurity. Lily’s introduction to the show was used by right-wing media as a cheap shot against former President Barack Obama and the rates of poverty during his administration. [Media Matters, 10/6/11]

• Fox host Sean Hannity hosted a panel attacking Sesame Street for a segment that supported letting boys play with dolls and girls play with fire trucks. In response, right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro joked that he would like to “cap” Elmo, while former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell called it a “direct assault on this country's moral foundation.” [Fox News, Hannity, 6/1/11]