“Sesame Street” To Introduce Its First Autistic Muppet; Is The PBS Defunding Move Due To The Show’s Parody Of Donald Trump For Years?

Early this week, “Sesame Street” officially debuted its first Muppet with autism. Julia, a red-haired shy Muppet, was first introduced last year in digital form for Sesame Workshop’s “Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children,” a global initiative aimed for communities and families with children ages 2 to 5. She is set to make her first appearance as a physical muppet on PBS and HBO starting April 10.

In a statement, executive vice president Sherrie Westin of Global Impact and Philanthropy at Sesame Workshop told PEOPLE, “She is going to be so powerful on two fronts. It will help kids with autism be able to identify with a character and it will also play an important role in destigmatizing autism. We want to reach all children in terms of giving them greater empathy and to talk about and increase awareness and understanding. We just had to bring her to life. She was created as a positive response from the autism community.”

The long-running children's show will have Julia join Elmo and Abby, who will introduce her to Big Bird, Sydney Morning Herald said. Julia will, at first, show reluctance to shaking Big Bird’s hand. Elmo also said in “60 Minutes” that they will explain to Big Bird why Julia takes “a little longer to do things."

Julia’s debut comes amid Donald Trump’s proposal to defund PBS in his 2018 budget. Released just last week, the proposal, once approved, will have Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the private non-profit organization that channels funding to programming and operations for public TV and radio nationwide, including “Sesame Street”’s producer PBS, lose millions in federal funding. According to Politico, the proposed budget will cut around USD485 million, affecting PBS, National Public Radio (NPR), as well as 1,500 local affiliates.

Although some blame Trump’s proposal to redirect funds in improving the wall along the US-Mexico border, some posit that the reason might be petty. The Sacramento Bee notes that “Sesame Street,” despite being a children’s program, appears to have been parodying Trump in the last three decades until his political rise. “Ronald Grump,” which first appeared in the late 1980s, appeared in the series to literally destroy the fictional Sesame Street by causing mayhem like what a real estate developer would do. Trump’s businesses before his presidency were largely in real estate. “Sesame Street”’s parent company has yet to respond to Grump’s origins, or its plans to revive the character, which last appeared in the show in a 2005 episode.