While there were many memes born from the inauguration of US President Joe Biden on 20 January, none have proven as prolific as Bernie Sanders and his comfortable mittens.
The senator has been the subject of memes before — but an image of him getting comfortable with his mittens has gone viral since the event.
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Internet users are remixing the image and placing Sanders in iconic photos from across history and pop culture.
The senator’s photo is also appearing in videos, Google Street View images, and meme mashups.
The original image shows sanders warmly bundled up at the event.
i need this picture to become the new "i would prefer not to" stand in pic.twitter.com/IsUATStFz8
— rachel syme (@rachsyme) January 20, 2021
It wasn’t long before users began Photoshoppping him into other images.
I really dislike y’all.
pic.twitter.com/V9W1u5Svll — Alyssa Rose, MS.Ed
(@Ms__TeacherLady) January 20, 2021
troy and abed and bernie in the moooorning!! pic.twitter.com/qr59jihblD
— yağmur the needlessly defiant (@coolyagmurtwts) January 21, 2021
god damn it, it was Bernie pic.twitter.com/zx2mLbnUoI
— mynameispiaivy ◟̽◞̽
(@piyatot09) January 20, 2021
— Michael Tannenbaum (@iamTannenbaum) January 20, 2021
The internet really can be magical pic.twitter.com/Jrwkj2twii
— Ashley Holub, PhD (@ashtroid22) January 21, 2021
I haven’t been able to crack this one yet pic.twitter.com/0tQsLzaTd3
— Ashley Holub, PhD (@ashtroid22) January 21, 2021
Sneaking this into my lectures on WWII to see if anyone notices pic.twitter.com/KZVIhvi1SO
— Terrence Peterson (@dr_tgpeterson) January 21, 2021
The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum also announced that a new bobblehead is in the works depicting the iconic image.
Political bobbleheads have been popular since 1960 when the first bobblehead of President John F. Kennedy was made. Now we're unveiling several new bobbleheads including an unexpected one featuring @BernieSanders from the inauguration. Pre-order now at https://t.co/KlAEygfVQZ. pic.twitter.com/up7biwA5V2
— National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum (@BobbleheadHall) January 20, 2021
A developer even created a website that lets you put Sanders into any shot on Google Maps Street View. It proved so popular the website kept crashing.
I made a website where you can put bernie in places using google maps street view. Enjoy!https://t.co/UfY5g9xU2k pic.twitter.com/8rstiEXOHf
— nick (@nick_sawhney) January 21, 2021
While you would expect the trend to die down, users are continuing to share new mashups and memes days later.
Name a more iconic trio pic.twitter.com/Apgp8E8Jz7
— Saint Hoax (@SaintHoax) January 21, 2021
One user even combined the sea shanty trend with the Bernie meme.
when memes collide
[sound on]
(blame @christt for giving me the idea) pic.twitter.com/OK0MrF0ZZT
— ⓢⓗⓐⓡⓓⓒⓞⓡⓔ ⧖ (@erocdrahs) January 21, 2021
Hopefully, the internet continues to produce more wholesome memes like this.
Feature image: Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash
