Blinken goes back to Sesame Street

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN

Secretary of State Antony Blinken made his way back to where the air is sweet, reprising an appearance on Sesame Street this week.

Blinken talked about his work as the top US diplomat and refugees in a short video clip posted to his Twitter account Wednesday.

“Delighted to catch up with my friend @Grover and meet new ones,” Blinken wrote in the post.

In a tweet last week, Blinken recalled his 2016 chat about refugees with Grover at the United Nations, saying he missed his Sesame Street friends and hoped to reconnect soon.

The Muppet replied that “so much has changed,” but that Blinken “will be glad to know I am still cute, fuzzy, and blue!”

In Wednesday’s clip, the top US diplomat spoke not only with Grover, but with Noor and Aziz — six-year-old Rohingya Muppets unveiled on the popular children’s show last year. The twin Muppets said they lived in a refugee camp in Bangladesh and had to flee their home because it wasn’t safe.

“I’m glad Noor and Aziz can learn and play with their @sesamestreet friends. All children deserve a safe and joyful childhood,” Blinken tweeted.

Grover replied, “It is so wonderful that I could introduce you to my new friends and talk about all the things we have in common, even though we are far apart!”

The Biden administration raised the US’ refugee ceiling to 62,500 in May after months of delay and a highly scrutinized announcement in April that it would not raise the historically low cap of 15,000. President Joe Biden said he plans to set a goal of 125,000 refugee admissions for fiscal year 2022.

The-CNN-Wire
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