People were perplexed when minority leader in the House, Kevin McCarthy, released a five-minute video of him reading Dr. Seuss’ Green eggs and ham, days after six of the author’s books have been withdrawn from publication.
When captioning the long video on Friday night, Mr. McCarthy wrote: “I still like Dr. Seuss, so I decided to read Green Eggs and Ham. RT if you still like it too! “
Mr. McCarthy posted the video a few days after Dr Seuss Enterprises, the company that manages Theodor Seuss Geisel’s estate, announced that six of his books written under the pseudonym Dr Seuss had been withdrawn from publication using “painful and wrong images ”.
The decision to remove the books drew criticism from conservative commentators and prominent Republican politicians, as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz suggested, without evidence, that President Joe Biden was to blame.
The six titles taken from the publication are And to think I saw it on Mulberry Street, If I ran the zoo, McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Super scrambled eggs!, and The Cat’s Quizzer.
However, as Green eggs and ham unaffected by the decision, people were confused as to why McCarthy chose that book for his bizarre reading.
Author Helen Kennedy replied to the minority leader in the Chamber: “I realized that you are not reading those that Seuss’s estate finds too offensive to continue publishing. Why is that? “And @fyungong asked,” I’m so confused right now! Lol what’s going on. No one is canceling Seuss. “
Political scientist Seth Masket wrote: “Good! You probably managed to buy it literally from any bookstore in the country, “and writer Robert VerBruggen added:” If you read a book in protest, but didn’t choose one of the banned ones, what are you advocating? “
Others felt that McCarthy should focus on the questions posed by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with the Daily Beast editor in general, Molly Jong-Fast, responding, “Democrats are dismissing Covid and Republicans are reading Dr. Seuss.”
While during CNN tonight on Friday, host Don Lemon criticized McCarthy, saying: “While Americans are desperate to be vaccinated and desperate for relief for Covid, here’s what Kevin McCarthy is doing now.”
Mr. Lemon continued: “It really happened. These are your Republican leaders ”and added that McCarthy apparently had no more pressing issues than to fuel“ this false outrage ”.
Geisel’s work was recently subjected to renewed scrutiny over its racist connotations and tropes, with the decision to remove the books from the publication taken after discussion “with a panel of experts, including educators,” the editors announced on Tuesday.
In a statement about his decision to withdraw the six books from publication on Tuesday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises said that “these books portray people in ways that are harmful and wrong.”
The company added: “Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure that the Dr Seuss Enterprises catalog represents and supports all communities and families.”