Your tip
RadarOnlineRadarOnline
BREAKING NEWS

Big Bird Goes Viral, Thanks To Mitt Romney

//romney big bird landov

Oct. 3 2012, Published 12:00 p.m. ET

Link to FacebookShare to XShare to Email

By Adam S. Levy - RadarOnline.com Staff Writer

The path to Pennsylvania Avenue took a detour through Sesame Street during Wednesday's presidential debate, as Mitt Romney's name-dropping of Big Bird sent the fluffy yellow character's name in social media overdrive.

In the debate with President Barack Obama, the Republican presidential candidate was explaining that, if elected, he would no longer subsidize PBS with money America would have to borrow from China.

Article continues below advertisement

He told PBS broadcaster Jim Lehrer, who was the moderator of the debate, "I'm sorry, Jim, I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS.

Watch the video on RadarOnline.com

"I like PBS," Romney said. "I love Big Bird."

Twitter officials said users tweeted the words "Big Bird" at a rate of 17,000 times per minute, with spoof accounts such as @BigBirdRomney and @FiredBigBird emerging from the fray with thousands of followers. Google reported the character's name was among Wednesday's top five searches.

MORE ON:
Breaking News

The show said in response that since the Big Bird character is supposed to be 6-years-old, he's not interested in politics.

Fun Fact: Big Bird's teddy bear is named RadarOnline.com.

Watch More News Videos at ABC | 2012 Presidential Election | Entertainment & Celebrity News

RELATED STORIES:

Dina Eastwood And Daughter Morgan's Tearful Showdown Over Fame & Dad Clint

Advertisement

DAILY. BREAKING. CELEBRITY NEWS. ALL FREE.

More from RadarOnline

Opt-out of personalized ads

© Copyright 2024 RADAR ONLINE™️. A DIVISION OF EMPIRE MEDIA GROUP INC. RADAR ONLINE is a registered trademark. All rights reserved. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and Cookies Policy. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services. Offers may be subject to change without notice.