Political differences can hurt families, friends or any relationship. Unfortunately in 2020, I believe everyone lost someone due to the political differences they have. But the real question is, no matter what side you are on, did Bernie Sanders save the entire nation in the end? Voting time took a toll on everyone, even me. I remember being so anxious for a while about how the nation would be on either side of the outcome. I bet you felt the same, too, as for a while there it was touch and go.
We all needed a happy ending — no matter what ‘side’ you chose. And I believe Bernie gave that to us. On Inauguration Day, Bernie was dressed in a manner that the world would not expect a politician to be dressed like on an important day.
A single snapshot of Bernie Sanders in his mittens and winter gear was turned into memes throughout the day. He was seen as not only being present on Joe Biden’s big day, but as an astronaut, in old historical paintings, in movie scenes, etc. He made us all laugh and come up with more expressive ways to come together. I believe I saw more posts about Bernie and his mittens than I did about Joe Biden.
According to an article from CNBC, “It’s just Bernie being Bernie.” Bernie Sanders had no idea that a photograph was taken of him.
The memes of Bernie Sanders did not come to light until later in the day. It started off with re-tweets of the original picture of him sitting in the folding chair, wearing a big puffy jacket and woven pattern mittens, with his hair messy from the wind and his mask sideways.
The original picture was shared across Twitter with small comments such as, “In all the inauguration fashion news, let us not overlook Senator Bernie Sanders’ mittens” said Vanessa Friedman, as featured in a New York Times article. So many more comments were following his pose or sense of fashion choice.
Yes, some of you may have found these annoying, but I think that these memes had brought the torn-apart nation back together for even just one day. CNN says that there may be a Bernie meme out there to share to reopen those connections that were just lost previously due to the differences in politics. “Comedy is a uniter that evens out the playing field,” says CNN.
For those of us who love to laugh at small, unimportant things, the Bernie memes is a highly suggested place to head to if you have not seen any already (that may be impossible).
We may have had a tough last couple of months — hell, a year now — but the memes make my day brighter and happier every single time. They even brought me closer to those who kept their space due to our differences in politics.
Some people make us laugh, some people make us cry. Yet, Bernie Sanders brought us together again as a whole nation, even if it was for a day.
Although Bernie wasn’t elected, he still brought the U.S. together with his grumpy pose that ended up in memes across the country. This, in turn, created a new safe space that we all did not know we very much needed due to our differences in politics.
Katie Podgurski is a Graphic & Interactive Design major with a minor in Media & Culture. KP919908@wcupa.edu