BILLINGS — At Wednesday’s inauguration, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont was spotted wearing a beige parka with what appeared to be some very warm homemade mittens.
Turns out the mittens were made for the senator by a Vermont schoolteacher named Jen Ellis, who told CBS earlier this week about how flattered she was to see her mittens at such an important event.
“I mean, people wear things from famous fashion designers to the inauguration,” says Ellis. “And there was Bernie, wearing mittens that I made, you know, in my craft room with a sewing machine that my mother gave me when I was 12.”
Sanders has been taking the fashion attention in stride, telling CBS that he was just trying to keep warm.
But the photo of Sanders sitting with his mittens has gone viral and been photoshopped into different locations around the world, scenes from movies, famous pictures and even every-day life. And he’s even made his way here to Montana.
The Downton Billings Alliance posted a Bernie pic on its Facebook Page with the caption, “Hey, if the Montana Brewing Company patio was open in January, Bernie would be prepared.”
Sanders was also spotted in Red Lodge outside the Prerogative Kitchen restaurant. Their Instagram post read, “Mitten Weather! See you on the slopes.”
And the Montana Grizzles Football Fans Facebook page had an image of the senator in a snowy Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula with a caption reading, “Waiting patiently for Griz football to return.”
But what might be the best Bernie in Montana image so far, is Bernie at Bernie’s Diner here in Billings.
