A few snow flurries might have been coming down during the presidential inauguration Wednesday (Jan. 20), but Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, aka Tío Bernie, looked warm and toasty during the historical event.
In a photo from Getty Images, Sanders is seen, legs crossed, dressed in a beige jacket, pair of brown patterned mittens and medical face mask. He’s also practicing his social distancing. The image captures the proud democrat socialist at the U.S. Capitol looking relaxed and carefree–like an uncle who just ate a second helping of Thanksgiving dinner and has now retired to the couch to watch the big game. The Week was the first to refer to Tío Bernie’s look as “grumpy chic.”
According to Buzzfeed reporter Ruby Cramer, his mittens were made by a teacher from his home state of Vermont from repurposed wool sweaters and recycled plastic bottles.
“In Vermont, we know something about the cold,” Sanders told CBS News after the inauguration was over. “We’re not so concerned about good fashion. We want to keep warm.”
As warm as Tío Bernie was on Inauguration Day, there were also plenty of warmhearted sentiments about the senator’s posture and attire trending on Twitter, including Photoshopped images of Bernie bundled under a quilt with an image of La Virgen de Guadalupe printed on it.
Artists were quick to turn the Bernie photo into fan art that is worthy of a congressional comic, children’s book or art exhibition.
https://twitter.com/tanque_ruso/status/1352022266117316611/photo/1
Some Twitter users imagined Sanders as a member of the KPop boy band 2PM, the replacement for actress Kim Cattrell in the upcoming Sex and the City series and as Deadpool’s sidekick.
If this is the mood we collectively decide that we need in 2021, we can thank Tio Bernie for making cranky and cold so cool.