NOEL KING, HOST:
Good morning. I'm Noel King. Sorry, Elmo, you and your friends are not welcome at next year's Conservative Political Action Conference. Republicans banned the Muppets - who, you may recall, are both fictional and puppets - from attending on Twitter on Wednesday because Big Bird's Twitter account shared that he got the COVID vaccine. Texas Senator Ted Cruz called it propaganda. My guess is that the Muppets are OK with this ban. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.