About

Bernie Sanders Wearing Mittens Sitting in a Chair refers to the numerous jokes and photoshops made from pictures of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders' attending the Inauguration of Joe Biden in a parka and mittens. In particular, a picture of Sanders sitting bundled up in a chair became an image macro and exploitable series.

Origin

At the Inauguration of Joe Biden, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders attended in a coat and mittens,^[1] which stood in stark contrast to other attendees who had more formal wear. That day, Getty photographer Brendan Smialowski published the image of Sanders seated at the inauguration in his parka and mittens.

Many shared the image online, including New Yorker writer Rachel Syme, who tweeted^[2] the image with the caption, "i need this picture to become the new 'i would prefer not to' stand in." The post received more than 20,000 likes and 4,000 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, left). BuzzFeed political reporter Ruby Cramer tweeted^[3] about the mittens' origins, "Bernie’s mittens are made by Jen Ellis, a teacher from Essex Junction, Vt. She gave them to him 2+ years ago and was surprised when he began wearing them on the campaign trail. They are made from repurposed wool sweaters and lined with fleece made from recycled plastic bottles." The post received more than 230,000 likes and 46,000 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, right).

This was parodied in a post by Twitter user @CamBNewton^[5] that gained over 2,400 retweets and 20,000 likes (shown below). They wrote, "Everyone else: wearing giant, dressy black and grey coats Bernie: This is my good jacket, and it keeps me warm. I’m wearing it."

Spread

Throughout the day, people joked about Sanders' wardrobe online (examples below). Twitter^[4] published an events page on the reaction, writing "Cozy and casual Bernie Sanders makes a fashion statement on Inauguration Day."

That day on Reddit, the photo of Sanders reached the front page of /r/MemeEconomy and the top 100 posts overall. Redditor droplit_ posted the image in the /r/MemeEconomy subreddit^[6] received more than 6,000 points (97% upvoted) and titled the thread "Invest in Bundled up Bernie."

Several media outlets covered the image, including Vogue,^[7] GQ,^[8] NJ.com,^[9] The Cut,^[10] The Daily Beast,^[11] People,^[12] New York Post,^[13] BuzzFeed,^[14] Mic,^[15] Ebaumsworld^[16] and more.

Various Examples

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Search Interest

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External References