Seth Meyers hired Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) as his guest in Late night before Wednesday’s inauguration, but when Thursday night arrived, there was really only one thing he wanted to ask him.
“Did you know that this photo immediately became the meme of the day?” asked the host, holding the original photo of Sanders sitting alone with both legs and gloves crossed before the ceremony began.
“Not at all,” replied the senator. “I was sitting there trying to keep warm, trying to pay attention to what was going on.”
Relentless, Meyers started showing Sanders some of his favorite examples of the phenomenon that dominated social media on Wednesday and somehow is still going strong. “Does your team show you?” he wondered, holding one of the Democratic Socialists like the new Samantha in Sex and the City.
With a quick laugh, Sanders said, “Yes, I saw them,” before turning to tell the story of the Vermont professor who made the now iconic gloves and was “somewhat impressed” by the attention she has received. He also laughed politely when the host shared his “favorite” of him sitting next to Forrest Gump and said, “I think you would get up and get out of that bank.”
But Meyers was not finished. “I promise to get to a substantive discussion here, I don’t want to waste time talking about memes,” he said, before showing another photo of Sanders holding a manila envelope that went instantly viral when a comedian tweeted: “Bernie dressed up as if possession was on your to-do list today, but not all day. “
Asked what was in the envelope, Sanders joked, “I would love to tell you, Seth, but it’s top secret.”
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