Yesterday, Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States. It was a historic moment, with Kamala Harris sworn in as the nation’s first woman, Black and Asian vice president; while the youngest U.S. Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, captured hearts and minds with her powerful words.
But who is the top trending person across social media today? Vermont senator and past presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, who was photographed at the event in a pair of cozy wool mittens, sitting back in a folding chair, wearing a blue surgical mask and looking like he would rather be freezing anywhere else. It was an entire mood, and the image, taken by news agency AFP Correspondent Brendan Smialowski, soon went viral.
People around the world began creating memes of Bernie's pose—in famous paintings, outside of a Best Buy, and even as the fly on Mike Pence’s head from the vice presidential debates. Celebrities added him to scenes from their films and TV shows. Sarah Jessica Parker placed him in a clip from “Sex and the City.” Even government agency Readygov had some fun with the meme.
Now, there’s now a website that places Bernie and his mittens anywhere in the world, and there’s already meme merch available. T-shirts with Bernie are being sold on Etsy, Jewish magazine Jewish Currents is selling a mug with a cartoon version of the pose, and the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum has designed a lookalike bobblehead, on presale for $25.
The famous mittens actually came via a side business of Vermont teacher Jen Ellis, who gave a pair to the Senator in 2016. The Vermont teacher now says she has sold out of the mittens, according to The Hill.
Brands, too, are always down for a good meme, and today, many got in on the excitement. We scrolled through thousands of brands' Bernie memes to share the most creative ones:
