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Today, the US welcomed a new president and new Bernie memes

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He is, as always, a mood

By Mitchell Clark
US-POLITICS-INAUGURATION
The unaltered specimen.
Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Today’s US presidential inauguration brought many good things, but the thing Twitter seems most excited about is a new crop of Bernie memes.

The meme started with a wire photo of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), sitting on a folding chair watching President Joe Biden’s inauguration. The temperature in Washington, DC was in the 40s, so he’s bundled up with a coat and mittens, and he’s sitting socially distanced from everyone else, as his age and prior health issues put him at severe risk for COVID-19.

Something about Sanders’ chilly body language, his oversized wool mittens, and the fact that he was sitting entirely alone made the photo irresistible as meme material. Of course, the senator is no stranger to memes — including 2016’s Birdie Sanders and 2020’s “I am once again asking” — but this one has blown up particularly quickly. Take a look for yourself.

My question is who put Bernie somewhere even colder? Someone please get this man a beanie to match his mittens.

Someone also took the liberty of making it a Snapchat filter.

Of course, memes become more powerful when they’re put together.

There has, of course, also been fan art (in a shockingly short amount of time).

Adding to the meme repertoire, there’s a picture of Bernie looking at his phone.

And pictures of him holding an envelope are getting meme’d as well.

Since it’s Bernie, there’s a touching story to go with his look: the mittens he’s wearing are apparently handmade and were given to him by a supporter over two years ago.

If you’re looking to jump in on the meme action, Twitter user @Taber has kindly made a transparent version, ready to be put into many, many more images.

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