Biden weighs in on mental health crisis after Elmo deluged with depressed tweets

'Sesame Street' account also tweeted mental health resources

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter
Elmo; President Joe Biden
Elmo; President Joe Biden | Robert Giroux/Getty Images; Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

President Joe Biden retweeted the official X account of Elmo on Wednesday after a welfare check from the "Sesame Street" character was met with a deluge of negative replies from X users.

"Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?" Elmo's account asked Tuesday.

The famous Muppet's tweet drew nearly 200 million views and prompted 17,000 comments as of Thursday, with many X users explaining to the beloved character how much they are struggling.

As noted by CNN, some of the top replies to Elmo included tweets such as: "Elmo each day the abyss we stare into grows a unique horror. one that was previously unfathomable in nature. our inevitable doom which once accelerated in years, or months, now accelerates in hours, even minutes. however I did have a good grapefruit earlier, thank you for asking."

"Every morning, I cannot wait to go back to sleep," wrote another user. "Every Monday, I cannot wait for Friday to come. Every single day and every single week for life."

"Elmo I'm gonna be real I am at my [expletive] limit," wrote one user whose tweet received 18 million views and 514,000 likes.

Another user claimed he was "depressed and broke," and another said: "I’m at my lowest, thanks for asking."

"The world is burning, Elmo," the official X account of The Babylon Bee wrote. "No amount of tickles can fix this."

"Wow! Elmo is glad he asked!" the Muppet later tweeted. "Elmo learned that it is important to ask a friend how they are doing. Elmo will check in again soon, friends! Elmo loves you. #EmotionalWellBeing"

Biden also retweeted Elmo from his official presidential X account, writing: "I know how hard it is some days to sweep the clouds away and get to sunnier days. Our friend Elmo is right: We have to be there for each other, offer our help to a neighbor in need, and above all else, ask for help when we need it. Even though it's hard, you're never alone."

The barrage of negativity also prompted the official X account of "Sesame Street" to tweet out their mental health resources.

"Mental health is health!" the account wrote. "For #EmotionalWellbeing resources and more, visit Sesame.org/MentalHealth."

"Sesame Street" characters have been used to promote public health initiatives before, and the children's show made headlines during the pandemic when it promoted the COVID-19 injection for children by showing Elmo getting the shot.

The video PSA of Elmo's injection was a collaboration between Sesame Street's nonprofit Sesame Workshop, the Ad Council, and COVID Collaborative’s COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative.

Elmo also drew attention on social media Thursday when comedian Larry David punched him on "The Today Show."

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