At this point you’ve probably seen the Bernie Sanders photoshopped meme more than a few times in your feed. It may have jumped the shark already. But the story behind the mittens is actually pretty great.
They were gifted to him four years ago when he was in the primary leading up to the 2016 presidential election. They were made by a second-grade school teacher in Vermont named Jen Ellis who is a family friend of Bernie’s. Now that this photo meme of him wearing them at the inauguration has taken off Jen has been flooded with requests to buy the mittens. She’s received over 6,000 emails that crashed her gmail account. To the point that she tweeted to everyone that she doesn’t make them anymore.
Thanks for all the interest in Bernie's mittens! It truly has been an amazing and historic day! I'm so flattered that Bernie wore them to the inauguration. Sadly, I have no more mittens for sale. There are a lot of great crafters on ETSY who make them. -Jen Ellis,
— Jen Ellis (@vtawesomeness) January 21, 2021
What a random, crazy story that no one saw coming leading up to the Inauguration. Gotta love the internet.
Photo credit: Getty Images