Bernie Sanders Just Got Sworn in as the First Great Meme of 2021

From Men's Health

• Senator Bernie Sanders attended the inauguration of the United States' 46th President, Joe Biden, and with his mask, social distancing, and general demeanor, became 2021's first great meme.

• Around the internet, people photoshopped Sanders, mostly seated in his chair in the bleachers, into other scenarios, but always in his coat and mittens outfit.

• The internet really didn't miss with this one—and we've rounded up several of our favorites.

We were always going to look to 2021 as the start of something new after the undeniably rough year that was 2020. And on January 20th, 2021, in Washington, D.C., something new was brought to us, a uniting force that everyone could get behind. That's right: a series of hilarious memes based on Senator Bernie Sanders—and his supremely on-brand jacket and mittens—at the inauguration took the internet by storm.

Obviously, the headliner of the day was the inauguration of President Joe Biden, who will now serve as the 46th in United States history. But Sanders, who was one of Biden's opponents in the Democratic primary and a key surrogate during the general election, made his own splash at the inauguration ceremony, wearing the same jacket seen in his previous meme along with mittens made from repurposed materials. His low-key outfit combined with a laid-back demeanor feels all-to-familiar in 2021, after nearly a year of people spending the vast majority of their time at home, dressing up and showing off for no one but themselves.

The main photo people were drawn to for meme purposes finds Sanders appropriately masked-up and social distancing, but others from the day's events certainly made for some great meme fodder nonetheless. We're always excited about a new meme, because it's something that we can all get behind and laugh at—and thankfully, we're already off to a great start here in just the first month of 2021.

So, without further ado, here are the best Bernie Sanders inauguration memes we've seen so far.

Many found good ways to insert Sanders into their favorite shows and movies:

In fact, Watchmen, Lost, and The Leftovers creator Damon Lindelof found great ways to fit Sanders into his own shows:

And why not Game of Thrones for good measure?

WandaVision star Paul Bettany found a natural in:

The Bernie meme also worked in the context of music and music videos:

Some made reference to memes past:

Others found ways for us to see where this could fit in:

There were even ways to fit Bernie into piece of art:

One of the best ways of using the photo was just, you know, good old fashioned reliability:

Other famous artists, like Knives Out director Rian Johnson, Big Mouth star and co-creator Nick Kroll, Star Wars' Chewbacca Joonas Suotomo, and Deadpool himself, Ryan Reynolds, got in on the fun too:

The best thing about all of this? They're still rolling in. There's still more fun to be had. In fact, one legendary Twitter user, @nick_sawhney, made a website where people can insert Inauguration Bernie into any Google Maps street view they want. Now that's innovation.

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