House minority leader Kevin McCarthy has released a five-minute video of himself reading Dr Seuss seemingly in protest at six of the author’s books being pulled from publication.
McCarthy posted the video of him reading from Dr Seuss’ iconic book Green Eggs and Ham on Twitter on Saturday (6 March), days after it was announced six of the author’s books would cease to be printed because of their racist and insensitive imagery.
He captioned the post: “I still like Dr Seuss so I decided to read Green Eyes and Ham.”
McCarthy then called on others to retweet his video if “you still like him too”.
I still like Dr. Seuss, so I decided to read Green Eggs and Ham.
RT if you still like him too! pic.twitter.com/2pbRbSiJD6
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) March 6, 2021
It came after Dr Seuss Enterprises, which preserves and protects the author’s legacy, told The Associated Press that it would end reprints of six books that “portray people in ways that are hurtful in wrong”.
“Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr Seuss Enterprises’ catalogue represents and supports all communities and families,” it said.
The books in question are And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, If I Ran the Zoo, McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super! and The Cat’s Quizzer.
It’s unclear why McCarthy chose Green Eggs and Ham, which isn’t one of the six books affected by the decision of Dr Seuss Enterprises, and the internet was as confused as it was unimpressed.
Molly Jong-Fast, editor of The Daily Beast, wrote on Twitter: “Democrats are passing COVID relief And Republicans are reading Dr Seuss”.
Democrats are passing Covid relief And Republicans are reading Dr. Seuss
— Molly Jong-Fast
(@MollyJongFast) March 6, 2021
Another Twitter user pointed out: Actually, we have a national pandemic going on as well as an economic crisis. Isn’t there more important things you ought to be thinking about?”
I like Dr Seuss. Why don’t you have his estate explain why they are discontinuing some of his books and stop trying to blame Dems
Actually, we have a national pandemic going on as well as an economic crisis. Isn’t there more important things you ought to be thinking about ?— Stephen not Steven (@StephenStpwine1) March 6, 2021
Right-wing media and politicians have taken the pulling of Dr Seuss’ books as another sign of “cancel culture”.
Texas senator Ted Cruz wrongly suggested, without evidence, that the “cancellation” of Dr Seuss was the fault of president Joe Biden. In the first of a series of bizarre tweets, Cruz posted an image of several Dr Seuss’ books topping an online bestseller list, captioning it: “Who knew Joe Biden was such a great bookseller.”
He then asked if Biden could “try to ban my book next” as it was apparently a bestseller on Amazon “a couple of months ago”.
Could Biden try to ban my book next?
One Vote Away was the #1 Bestseller on Amazon a couple of months ago…maybe Joe could get it back there?
GET it HERE: https://t.co/qts9gyKX1A https://t.co/C7nrpwQhPr
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 3, 2021
The post Republican Kevin McCarthy stages pathetic Dr Seuss protest. Meanwhile, Americans are dying of COVID appeared first on PinkNews – Gay news, reviews and comment from the world’s most read lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans news service.
