Early in last night’s presidential debate, Mitt Romney unloaded the old Republican canard that cutting funding for public broadcasting would help curb the federal budget deficit. And while it might have seemed like a good idea with respect to the near-invisible performance by the moderator—PBS NewsHour‘s Jim Lehrer—the comment was not too warmly received.

Most people, it seems, would prefer to live in a world where Big Bird, the Dowager Countess and even Jim Lehrer are part of the media landscape.

And PBS is rallying to its own cause, too. In a press release, the network, which relies on .012 percent of the federal budget and gets most of its funding from member stations and foundational support, blasted Romney’s position.

“Governor Romney does not understand the value the American people place on public broadcasting and the outstanding return on investment the system delivers to our nation,” the statement read.

Additionally, cutting funding for public broadcasting would prove to be a vastly unpopular policy, according to a poll cited in the release:

A national survey by the bipartisan research firms of Hart Research and American Viewpoint in 2011 found that over two-thirds of American voters (69%) oppose proposals to eliminate government funding of public broadcasting, with Americans across the political spectrum against such a cut.

Much as Romney said last night he “love[s] Big Bird,” the facts suggest the American people love that giant yellow avian even more. And Big Bird isn’t just a beloved children’s character—he’s emblematic of the importance of public broadcasting.

“For more than 40 years, Big Bird has embodied the public broadcasting mission – harnessing the power of media for the good of every citizen, regardless of where they live or their ability to pay,” the PBS statement continued.

Elsewhere, former Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton said he was “personally outraged,” with Romney’s dismissal of PBS.