Sesame Street's Elmo 'fired' due to Trump's PBS budget cuts in parody video

After President Donald Trump announced last week that he plans to eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting a new viral video has emerged showing beloved Sesame Street character Elmo getting fired.

"Elmo. It does me no great joy to inform you that due to recent cuts in government funding to PBS you are no longer employed by Sesame Street Workshop," a man tells Elmo in the video. "Elmo, you're being laid off."

Approximately $74.6m (£59.9m) of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's $445.5m budget goes to fund Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) products like Sesame Street in television programming grants.

Released last Thursday 16 March, President Donald Trump's budget proposals titled America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again eliminates funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which largely funds PBS and National Public Radio.

"Elmo, the Trump Administration is gutting all arts and education funding," the man tells the iconic furry red monster that sparked the Tickle Me Elmo fad in 1996 with the release of an animatronic doll.

"Elmo's been working at Sesame Street for 32 years!" the furry monster protests in the video and wonders what's going to happen to his medical insurance, given that he has a pre-existing condition.

The man suggests Elmo take pictures with tourists in New York's Times Square for his next job. He isn't the only monster to get laid off either, and the man mentions Cookie Monster and Telly have also been let go.

The Trump administration's proposals have created concerns that Sesame Street and other PBS shows like Bob the Builder could disappear. Yet in 2010, PBS reported revenues of about $570m, and federal funding accounted for about 12% of PBS 2010 annual revenues.