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Sesame Street’s Count von Count has become an election meme as tallies in key states drag on

“You can’t stop the Count,” people tweeted at President Trump on Thursday.

By Steve Annear Globe Staff,Updated November 5, 2020, 12:13 p.m.
A woman holds a handmade sign featuring Count von Count from Sesame Street during a "Protect the Results & Count Every Vote" rally on the Boston Common to ensure that every vote is counted in the 2020 election.Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff

President Trump’s repeated calls to “Stop the Count!” of votes in undecided states are being met by a purple face familiar from many people’s childhoods: Count von Count from “Sesame Street.”

Ah! Ah! Ah!

The beloved Muppet, who first appeared on Sesame Street during Richard Nixon’s administration, seems to have gained new fame as an online mascot for those resisting Trump’s demand to halt the vote count and his supporters who doubt the legitimacy of the ballots being tallied in some battleground states.

People have been responding to a Thursday morning tweet by Trump with pictures and memes of Count von Count holding up numbers, and the defiant rallying cry: “You can’t stop the Count.”

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Others have joked that the Count was being called in to help tally the remaining ballots in states like Nevada and Pennsylvania, where the vote is too close to call, or that he’s perhaps behind the stalled results.

“The reason the count is taking so long is because Count von Count needs to laugh after each ballot,” one person tweeted, trying to bring levity to a stressful electoral purgatory.

What appears to be an old clip from an episode of “Sesame Street,” showing the Count counting bats and saying “part of voting is counting,” was also circulating on Twitter, with more than 30,000 views.

Meanwhile, at a “Count Every Vote” rally on Boston Common Wednesday night, at least two attendees held up homemade signs that featured the sharp-toothed puppet and a similar message to “keep counting.”

And at a rally in California on Wednesday, a protester showed up dressed up as the Count.

As of Thursday evening, the winner in Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Georgia was still undetermined, as election officials continued to count ballots and voters remained on the edge of their seats.

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“Sesame Street” did not immediately return a request for comment.

While “Sesame Street” certainly hasn’t taken a partisan stance in the election, the long-running children’s show has been vocal about the importance of participating in democracy — and has turned to Count von Count to deliver the message.

In an Oct. 23 post on Count von Count’s official Facebook page, the purple vampire-puppet stressed how much he loves to count, and how people should get out to cast a vote in the pivotal election.

“It is I, Count von Count, here to remind you to make your voice COUNT on November 3rd!” read the post.

It included a 30-second video of the Count doing his signature laugh and reminding viewers that voting is “the number one way that we can all help change the world.”

“No matter where you live, or how you do it — by mail or in person,” he said in the clip.

Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com. Follow him @steveannear.

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