Bernie Sanders Has Responded To Being The First Great Meme Of 2021

Based on the first memes of the year, 2021 is off to a better start than 2020.

Bernie Sanders, looking like every parent waiting for their kid’s soccer game to be over, and his mittens took over the internet on Inauguration Day, and it’s still going strong. He’s been turned into a cast member from The Sopranos, the fourth Haim sibling, and a baseball card, but the Vermont senator didn’t immediately realize he had gone viral.

When asked if he was aware of his meme fame on Thursday’s episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers, Sanders told host Seth Meyers, “Not at all. I was just sitting there, trying to keep warm. Trying to pay attention to what was going on.” Meyers, who praised the senator for not being a politician “who uses memes” (his Twitter account mercifully hasn’t exploited the meme; it’s still focused on real issues), wondered if Sanders’ staff showed him some of their favorites. “Yeah, I’ve seen them,” he replied while laughing.

Sanders also brought up the woman who made the mittens. “She is a schoolteacher and a very, very nice person, and she’s somewhat overwhelmed by the kind of attention that’s being shown to her mittens,” he said. As for the contents of his mysterious manilla envelope, he isn’t saying. “I’d love to tell you, Seth, but it’s top secret,” he told Meyers.

Watch the Late Night clip above.

— what the actual heck (@jazz_inmypants) January 22, 2021