Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., arrived to the inauguration of Joe Biden wearing mittens
With all of the pomp and circumstance surrounding President Joe Biden's inauguration on Wednesday, who would have thought that a certain Vermont senator's mittens would be captivating people's attention?
Yet Sen. Bernie Sanders' brown winter handwear was all over Twitter and Instagram on Wednesday.
The mittens, which he also wore while campaigning for president last year, were made in Vermont and even have their own Twitter account.
As first reported by the Vermont alternative weekly newspaper Seven Days, the mittens were made by Jen Ellis, a teacher from Essex Junction, two years ago. She made them out of wool repurposed from sweaters and lined them with fleece, she told NECN Wednesday.
"I love it that he loves them, and that he wears them," Ellis said. "And I'm totally honored that he wore them today."
She may need to start making more, if the reaction on social media is any indication of their popularity.
"'I am once again asking for a space heater,'" Twitter user @daisy_razor wrote.
"Bernie with zero sartorial consideration. Just full Vermont grandfather," BET social media manager Kozza Babumba commented.
Wednesday's viral mitten moment later sparked the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum to unveil a Bernie Sanders Inauguration Day Bobblehead.
The bobblehead, available for pre-order, will feature Sanders sitting in a chair with his face mask and winter coat on and of course, the mittens.
