# Bernie Sanders' mittens

> An inauguration meme raised a reported $1.8 million for Vermont charities.

- Owner: null
- Kind: Meme & format
- Sector: Politics & civic
- Seed date: 2021-01-20
- Peak date: 2021-01-22
- Spread Score: 47 (Notable), v1.2
- Mechanics: Remixable template, Shareable output, Platform jump, Press loop, Sell-out loop

## Summary

Users captioned an inauguration photograph on Twitter and Reddit, then made Snapchat and Instagram remixes. Fans built image generators and crocheted dolls. Sanders’s campaign reported $1.8 million for Vermont charities; other makers ran separate fundraisers.

## Timeline

- 2021-01-20 — Brendan Smialowski / AFP (Press) — AFP's photograph of Sanders seated at the inauguration was uploaded to Getty Images.
- 2021-01-20 — droplit_ (r/MemeEconomy) (Reddit) — droplit_ posted the seated photograph with the caption Invest in Bundled up Bernie.
- 2021-01-20 — @taber (X) — @taber shared a transparent cutout that others could insert into different scenes.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/bernie-sanders-mittens

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Bernie Sanders' mittens.” Case HIS-00045. Spread Score v1.2: 47/100. Updated 2026-10-13. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-00045