Inauguration Sanders takes over internet

Memes of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at Wednesday’s inauguration have taken social media by storm Wednesday, with everyone from comedian Nick Kroll to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) getting in on the act.

Sanders’s posture and mittens captured the internet’s imagination, with Twitter users transferring him to the cult classic “The Big Lebowski,” “Star Wars,” “Game of Thrones” and Netflix’s chess drama “The Queen’s Gambit,” along with a host of other historic images or even paintings.

The increasingly abstract memes eventually transferred Sanders to the “Distracted Boyfriend” meme, the moon landing, Georges Seurat’s painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” and the top of former Vice President Mike Pence’s head in place of the fly that landed there during the vice presidential debate.

Bernie on the iron throne pic.twitter.com/0uK4YvonHx

— Stimmy Hendrix (@rocczar) January 21, 2021

this is it
this is the one pic.twitter.com/wlai2ua4oQ

— Emerson Lotzia, Jr. (@EmersonLotzia) January 21, 2021

pic.twitter.com/Alm2FbX6g9

— the thicc husband & father (@lukeisamazing) January 21, 2021

I could re-post a million Bernie memes today, but I’ll just post my favorite. Here ya go pic.twitter.com/fQqLU8Pi4f

— Emilee O’Berry (@emilee_limeblue) January 21, 2021

bernie playing chess with beth harmon pic.twitter.com/aIYxHyLtfw

— sorcha ᗢ wandavision (@katesparkers) January 21, 2021

The internet really can be magical pic.twitter.com/Jrwkj2twii

— Ashley Holub, PhD (@ashtroid22) January 21, 2021

Kroll inserted Sanders into his and John Mulaney’s “Oh, Hello” sketch, which was later turned into a Broadway show, while Readygov, FEMA’s public service account, used the image to offer tips on heavy winter weather.

Of course the boys don’t wear masks. pic.twitter.com/0R1iibdiCf

— nick kroll (@nickkroll) January 21, 2021

If winter weather is forecast in your area, now is the time layer up:

❄️ Bundle up your pets.
❄️ Always have mittens.
❄️ Don’t forget to wear a warm hat! https://t.co/Huk3zeppXj pic.twitter.com/jBN5BwuXUO

— Readygov (@Readygov) January 21, 2021

Sanders, asked yesterday by CBS’s Gayle King about his inaugural look, quipped that Vermonters “know something about the cold, and we’re not so concerned about good fashion.”