Sesame Street character Elmo appeared to weigh into the Trump administration’s controversial budget cuts this week in a Linkedin post purportedly by the beloved red monster.

“Hi LinkedIn, Unfortunately Elmo was recently laid off because of the federal budget cuts. Elmo worked at Sesame Street for 45 years. Elmo is sad. Elmo loved his time at Sesame Street,” the post read, referring to Trump’s plan to defund public broadcasters PBS and NPR radio.

Elmo say’s he is open to both full time and freelance roles.

While a spokesperson for Sesame Workshop – which produces Sesame Street – has confirmed the now-deleted post was not from an official account, Elmo’s message has gone viral on social media.

A May 7 post on X, highlighting Elmo’s alleged lay off has already attracted more than four million views.

“Elmo is going to miss his friends Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Ernie, Bert, Abby, Grover, Count and so many more,” Elmo says in the fake post.

“They made Elmo’s day so much better. Elmo is looking for his next opportunity. Elmo is good at so many things. Like hugs. … Elmo is open to full-time or freelance roles,” he says.

He finishes by urging readers to :help Elmo and his friends” by urging their local congress person to :save Public Media”.

Trump last week issued an executive order to block all federal funding to PBS and NPR, alleging they have produced “biased and partisan news coverage”.

PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger reponded in a statement  saying the executive order was unlawful and “threatens our ability to serve the American public with educational programming, as we have for the past 50-plus years”.

Sesame Street, featuring the late Jim Henson’s muppet characters, first aired on PBS in 1969.

In 2015, Sesame Workshop (formerly Children’s Television Workshop) struck a deal that allowed premium television service HBO to air Sesame Street ahead of PBS, HBO Max cancelled the deal in late 2024.

In Australia, the ABC has broadcast Sesame Street since 1970.

The fake Linkedin post is not the first time Elmo weighed in to the Trump’s attacks on public broadcasting, with a parody video featuring the puppet made during the President’s first term in office.