Today Was The Day That The Internet Celebrated Bernie Sanders’ Inauguration As America’s New Meme Lord

On Wednesday, after months of turmoil involving election-related conspiracy theories and even a failed MAGA coup, Joe Biden was finally inaugurated as America’s 45th president. It was a big day, with big milestones (the nation’s first female/black/Asian vice president!), lots of big stars (Lady Gaga! The New Radicals!), to say nothing of the big “malarkey” guy himself. But if you followed it all on social media, you came away with one major conclusion: the day was stolen by Bernie Sanders. And all he did was sit in a fold-out chair with tiny mittens looking vaguely grumpy and cold.

Sanders — who was the last presidential candidate to drop out before Biden nabbed the ticket — joined the throngs in D.C., which was big on fellow politicians and celebrities but short on regular citizens, for obvious reasons. The Vermont senator, whose policies lean towards the socialist side of things, may not be president but he does have a sweet new gig: He’s the new chair of the Senate Budget Committee, meaning he’ll be overseeing how much money goes to Americans struggling during the pandemic.

But for now, his job is being a meme celebrity. Soon Sanders was being Photoshopped into movies.

And TV shows.

And album covers.

And other miscellaneous things.

Will Bernie see any of this? Does he know he’s being memed? Probably not! He’s a busy and serious man, and he probably won’t enjoy some young aide explaining to him that he’s been photoshopped into Uncut Gems or the cover for Steely Dan’s Pretzel Logic. But everyone else enjoyed it, and that’s what counts.