Posted in: Netflix, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: fox news, opinion, sesame street

Sesame Street: Ramy Youssef on Teaching Arabic to Elmo; MAGA Meltdown

Actor/comedian Ramy Youssef on what it was like celebrating Arab American Heritage Month with Elmo on Sesame Street and the MAGA/FOX "News" backlash.

It's got to be exhausting spending 24/7 being a whiny f**k who worships at the feet of a steaming pile of orange goo while blaming everyone else for their problems and raging against anyone who thinks, acts, or looks different from you. But I digress… in a totally unrelated note, it looks like MAGA and its official mouthpiece, FOX "News" (we really need to look into what the criteria are for being able to call yourself a "news channel") have a problem with actor/comedian Ramy Youssef teaching Elmo the Arabic words/expressions "habibi" ("my love") and "salamu alaykum" ("peace be upon you") to help celebrate Arab American Heritage Month. If you're reading this (and you don't have to look up the meaning of every third word), then you're probably wondering what the problem is since Sesame Street has introduced children to various languages over its long run.

"I wish 'Sesame Street' would stick to teaching kids about letters and numbers and leave the Arabic immersion to someone else. Next, Bert and Ernie will be praying five times a day on 'Sesame Street,' facing east," ranted a talking head during one of those FOX "News" shows hosted by someone who might just be the "patient zero" from which about a half-dozen FOX "News" hosts and commentators (and some Trump folks) are cloned from. Thankfuly, we have the clip from Sesame Street for you to check out below, followed by Youssef's reaction to the MAGA meltdown.

Checking in with ABC daytime talk show The View this week, Youssef shared how the "surreal" experience of filming on the set of the iconic, long-running children's show hit him on a personal level. "You grow up watching Elmo, you know? And so for Elmo to say 'salamu alaykum,' for Elmo to say, 'habibi'… I was very emotional," Youssef shared about the segment. As for the MAGA whining and FOX "News" talking heads going all "Chicken Little," Youssef referred to their leader's Easter social media post push back on the hate.

"I feel for them, right? … I think they're worried [about] Arabic immersion, and it's got to be tough, because I think they're supporters of the President. So imagine your president on Easter is tweeting 'Praise be to Allah,' and now Elmo saying 'habibi' feels threatening," the actor/comedian noted. "There's been a lot of languages on 'Sesame Street' and there's been no backlash to those. So, it actually really did surprise me," Youssef added. "Elmo saying Habibi has set them off in a way that has never happened to me before."

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