Michelle Obama and Ella Emhoff may have turned heads with their fashion-forward Inauguration Day looks — but one Vermont senator stole the show. Bernie Sanders showed up warm and casual to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ big day, which has since prompted an influx of hilarious memes and tweets.
While other attendees were glammed up, the 79-year-old wore a grey windbreaker, blue face mask and brown mittens to the ceremony and was seen carrying an envelope. His bundled up look has now been photoshopped to see him seated on sidewalk benches, bus seats and feeding pigeons in the park.
Twitter users also noticed that Sanders appeared to be wearing the same jacket from his famously memed campaign video. Others still put images of the sitting senator on various album covers.
Despite the jokes, Sanders was in high spirits on Wednesday (Jan. 20) as Biden became the 46th president of the United States. The Vermont Democrat celebrated Donald Trump’s departure from office with a tweet on Tuesday (Jan. 19).
“Today is the last full day of the worst and most dangerous president in American history,” he wrote. “For four years Trump has tried to divide our people up. Our job, now, is to bring people together around an agenda that works for all, not just the few.”
In an op-ed article published by CNN, Sanders also laid out what he believes Biden should do during his first days in office.
“As a result of the pandemic, tens of millions of our fellow citizens have lost their jobs and incomes. Hunger is at its highest level in decades, and 40 million could be on the brink of eviction when the federal moratorium expires at the end of January,” he wrote. “… It is imperative that Democrats pass a bold and aggressive economic agenda within the first 100 days of Joe Biden’s presidency.”
“Now is not the time to think small,” he added. “It is the time to think big and to restore faith among working families — Black, white, Latino, Asian American and Native American — that in a democratic society, government can respond to their needs.”
See some of the best memes about Sanders’ Inauguration Day outfit below.