Eagle-eyed meme-lovers on Twitter have noticed an abundance of video game memes recently featuring United States Senator Bernie Sanders. This time, the memes are stemming from his appearance at the recent Presidential inauguration.
Yesterday, in grand ceremony, the United States inaugurated Joseph R. Biden as its 46th President. A photo was taken at the event of the under-dressed Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders wearing a pair of handmade mittens with his arms and legs crossed. This image has lit gamers' imaginations on fire, and the memes have been flowing since on Twitter and beyond.
The mittens were handmade by a second-grade teacher named Jen Ellis, who lives in Sanders' home state of Vermont. She made them out of repurposed wool sweaters and lined them with fleece made from recycled plastic bottles. They'll help keep him warm as he games, since Sanders has promised to learn how to play Minecraft if he gets enough views on one of his recent TikTok videos.
This isn't the first time Bernie Sanders memes have taken over the internet. The democratic socialist politician's mannerisms and ways of speaking have proven very memorable in the past, and the rallies he holds and ads he puts out are often followed by new memes. It's not even limited to the internet, as late-night talk show hosts, like The Late Show's Stephen Colbert, would, in good humor, often poke fun at the Senator during his 2016 and 2020 Presidential runs. While he didn't win either year, his meme-able nature won him a huge following, and helped bring his policies and talking-points into the popular discourse.
Part of what makes Senator Sanders so popular is how meme-able he is due to his mannerisms. He has a very unique style of talking and emoting that just makes him very unique and memorable, which makes him easy to meme. He's gotten the endorsement of several gamer celebrities, such as fighting game champion SonicFox, who endorsed Bernie Sanders after winning the Mortal Kombat 11 World Championship.
Bernie Sanders is on record as appreciating memes made about him. Not because he necessarily finds them funny, but because they get people talking about politics. Sanders has always been fairly adept when it comes to connecting with the youth of America. He was one of the first United States politicians to start his own Twitch channel, and has hosted streams in the past. He is also familiar with the games industry and the political issues surrounding it, and has commented on it before, criticizing former President Trump for blaming shootings on video games.