Bernie's mittens meme raises $1.8 million for Vermont charities in just five days

Judging by the reaction on social media, you either love the ubiquitous Bernie mittens memes or you hate them.

Personally, I find them charming—and they’ve been a welcome distraction from the 500-pound gorilla that’s, well, no longer in the room.

But this whimsical inauguration day highlight is also doing a lot of good for plenty of people.

CNBC:

Sen. Bernie Sanders said Wednesday that sales of merchandise featuring a viral image of the Vermont independent wearing mittens at the inauguration of President Joe Biden raised a whopping $1.8 million for charities in just five days.

“Jane and I were amazed by all the creativity shown by so many people over the last week, and we’re glad we can use my internet fame to help Vermonters in need,” Sanders said in a statement, referring to his wife.

A photo of Sanders sitting cross-legged and bundled up in a winter coat and wearing a chunky pair of mittens at Biden’s inauguration became a social media sensation last week.

Granted, you could probably raise $1.8 trillion selling T-shirts featuring any Trump family member in grubby prison garb, but we’ll have to wait for that.

For the moment, anyway, it’s all Bernie all the time.

Okay, they can’t all be the best. But damn, some of these are really good.

Kudos, Bernie. Some people (oh, you know who) might have been offended. Thanks for being a good sport and helping people in need.

This guy is a natural. Sometimes I laugh so hard I cry.” — Bette Midler on author Aldous J. Pennyfarthing, via Twitter. Trump is gone, but the righteous mocking goes on forever. Thanks to Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, Dear Fcking Lunatic: 101 Obscenely Rude Letters to Donald Trump, Dear Prsident A**clown and Dear F*cking Moron, you can purge the Trump years from your soul sans the existential dread. Only laughs from here on out. Click those links!