US Senator Bernie Sanders, the renowned curmudgeon photographed at the inauguration of President Joe Biden wearing mittens and a scowl behind his mask in an illustration that quickly became a meme, said he was delighted on Sunday that it could help raise millions for charity.
The meme shows everything from Sanders’ mittens touching Michelangelo’s Hand of God in the Sistine Chapel, to the Vermont Democrat supporting actor Demi Moore molding clay on the pottery wheel from the movie “Ghost,” to Sanders attending the World War Two Yalta Conference in 1945, raising hearts around the world after it went viral.
Asked on Sunday by CNN if he loved the meme as much as the rest of the country, the 79-year-old gave an odd smile and said he was overjoyed that for poor Americans, his handwoven mittens, blue facemask, and signature glower could be turned into gold.
“Not only are we having fun but what we are doing here in Vermont is we’re going to be selling around the country sweatshirts and T-shirts, and all of the money that’s going to be raised – which I expect will be a couple of million dollars – will be going to programs like ‘Meals on Wheels,’ that feed low-income senior citizens,” Sanders said.
“So, it turns out actually to be a good thing, and not only a fun thing,” he said.
On Twitter, Vermont teacher Jen Ellis said she gifted Sanders two years ago with the mittens she knitted from repurposed wool sweaters.
Sanders stood out from the designer garb at the ceremony with his mittens, a snowboarding jacket made by Vermont company Burton, and holding a large manila folder, as it was used in everything from Japanese anime art to 1960s album cover copies.
“I’m convinced Sen. Sanders would have dressed exactly the same to his own inauguration had he won,” said one Twitter user.
Source: Reuters