Bernie Wore His Meme Jacket To The Inauguration

The inauguration of Joseph R. Biden as the 46th President of the United States will be remembered for the stirring turn of verse from Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman, Jennifer Lopez’ inspiring rendition of “This Land is Your Land,” and  the weep-inducing sight of a the first time ever that a woman has put her hand on the bible and taken that inaugural oath of office. Yet one of the most cantankerously comforting sights of the day was that of Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who wears the same fuckin’ jacket everyday from November through April, looking resplendently not-at-all glamorous in his “I am once again asking…” jacket.   

replace every confederate monument with this statue of bernie pic.twitter.com/B6UzpebKo5

— Sal Gentile (@salgentile) January 20, 2021

Senator Sanders, who probably owns like two jackets total, got this particular jacket from a Burlington, Vermont-based snowboard apparel company called Burton.  

Bernie about to bounce before that parking lot becomes a nightmare. pic.twitter.com/FpuTpB9tfp

— Aubrey O'Day (@AubreyODay) January 20, 2021

Burton does have a San Francisco store on Haight Street, but good luck finding the Bernie-style, grandpa-core, off-grey version.

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. pic.twitter.com/ErLr29lY2t

— Ruby Cramer (@rubycramer) January 20, 2021

His mittens, which were also quite the rage on Twitter, were handmade by a Vermont school teacher, whose kid used to get daycare from Sanders’ daughter-in-law. 

Bernie has been wearing them for two years, and the mittens do of course have their own Twitter account.

Bernie Sanders, Steal his look pic.twitter.com/c4Hw48aCUu

— Emilia (@EmiliaDeLarge) January 20, 2021

Seeing Bernie just sitting on a folding chair and looking fairly disinterested, holding a manila envelope of newspaper clippings that he thought might like to put up on your fridge with magnets,  does make us wonder what could have been. But later this afternoon, a devoted Socialist in a very boring jacket and a wacky set of free mittens becomes the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, and that is a very historic and powerful thing.

.@BernieSanders on CBS : "What is absolutely imperative now is that the Congress show the American people we can walk and chew bubblegum at the same time. We can impeach Trump. We can allow Biden's nominees… we deal with the crises facing working families all over this country" pic.twitter.com/cjIPGWAd8M

— People for Bernie (@People4Bernie) January 20, 2021