Mr. Rogers shared a kiddie pool with a black man on national TV when it was illegal in many parts of the country still.

https://www.biography.com/actors/mister-rogers-officer-clemmons-pool

He also petitioned the Senate to keep PBS from being defunded

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Rogers%27s_1969_United_States_Senate_testimony

Yes, it is. One of the two major US parties (Republican) has built its current success on the proposition that kindness and consideration are a sign of weakness and therefore bad, the other that they are contingent (Democrat) and should be ostentatiously displayed when possible and dropped when inexpedient. It's the major sorting factor people use to pick a side.

As for Fred Rogers, testifying before your national legislative body about something is a textbook example of "political".

Things can become political because they are hated by politicians or a hateful group of sad and historically wrong and shameful dipshits.

They wanted to cancel Sesame Street because they had kids who were treated as kids, even though (dun dun dun) they were black.