Bernie Sanders puts mittens to work: Inauguration meme lands on sweatshirt for charity
Fans of Bernie Sanders’ cozy, casual inaugural garb can now wear it — on a sweatshirt.
The Vermont senator is capitalizing on his “viral mittens moment,” raising money for charity with sweatshirts featuring his Inauguration Day fashionstatement, according to The Hill.
Sales for the “Chairman Sanders Crewneck” went live on Sanders’ campaign website Thursday. The 100% cotton fleece shirt features Sanders wearing the handmade mittens, a tan insulator jacket, black slacks and blue surgical mask as he sits cross-legged in a foldout chair at the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The sweatshirt is priced at $45 and all proceeds will benefit Meals on Wheels Vermont, according to the website.
“Vermont jacket, Vermont gloves, Vermont common sense,” the description reads.
Sanders, who has run for president in the past, became a viral internet meme after his practical winter weather attire stole the show on Inauguration Day. His look was immortalized in various social media memes placing the senator in different settings, including a New York City subway car, a park bench and the iron throne from “Game of Thrones.”
On Thursday, the senator told “Late Night” host Seth Meyers he didn’t expect his inaugural wear to get so much attention.
“I was just sitting there trying to keep warm trying to pay attention to what was going on,” Sanders told Meyer in an interview.
The senator’s mittens, made by Vermont schoolteacher Jen Ellis, were also a hit — so much so, that they have since sold out.
“There’s no possible way I could make 6,000 pairs of mittens,” Ellis told Jewish Insider of the surge in demand for her handmade accessories since Sanders sported them at the inauguration. “And every time I go into my email, another several hundred people have emailed me.”
The rush to buy the crewneck sweatshirt bearing Sanders’ likeness is just as high.
A note on the campaign store website says shipping could take three to six weeks “due to overwhelming demand for this item.”
This story was originally published January 22, 2021 at 3:31 PM with the headline "Bernie Sanders puts mittens to work: Inauguration meme lands on sweatshirt for charity."