Twitter’s meme du jour takes inspiration from a Bernie Sanders campaign video
Image by Getty Images
By Irene Katz Connelly February 3, 2020
In this year’s crowded Democratic primary field, where death by a thousand tweets can strike at any moment, the pressure is on for candidates to seem #relatable to their supporters. Elizabeth Warren films herself calling hundreds of donors; Pete Buttigieg’s campaign has embraced a jazzercise-style dance to Panic At The Disco’s single high hopes; and Bernie Sanders is breaking the Internet with a video of himself shuffling down a wintry suburban street, enunciating into a hand-held camera with the very recognizable discomfort and determination of your dad making his first ever FaceTime call.
In the advertisement, which the Sanders campaign has disseminated through Twitter and other social media platforms, Bernie asks his supporters to donate to his campaign ahead of Federal Election Campaign fundraising deadline.
The truth is, we have an excellent chance to win the primary and beat Trump.
But the only way we can do that is if we have the sufficient financial resources.
So I am asking you today to contribute to our campaign before the FEC deadline: https://t.co/9y9BZMs0GM pic.twitter.com/wnYbUDBynW
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) December 30, 2019
It soon emerged as the appeal that launched a thousand memes.
I am once again asking for your financial support. pic.twitter.com/N3QlMo7Rt0
— LightTophat (@LightTophat) January 24, 2020
As it turns out, his awkward-but-earnest plea did resonate with voters, who used the clip to comment on many of life’s cringe-worthy moments
Like the agony of asking parents for yet another favor.
Or finding a recognizable beer to drink.
Meanwhile, one Twitter user turned the ad spot into a take on “Cats.”
my cats moments after i’ve filled her food bowl pic.twitter.com/6oRYYK5Onl
— rae paoletta (@PAYOLETTER) February 3, 2020
While someone else reimagined the candidate as Ariana Grande (one of the senator’s most, um, vocal supporters).
— Steve Morris (@stevemorris__) February 2, 2020
And yet another saw an opportunity for a “Talking Heads” throwback.
— Grace Spelman (@GraceSpelman) January 30, 2020
In today’s volatile Twitterscape, it’s a testament to Bernie’s appeal that the vast majority of “financial support” memes are good-natured. And while we all have a little fun at his expense, Bernie may have the last laugh: as he says in the video, he’s received more contributions from more individual people than any presidential candidate in American history.
Irene Katz Connelly is an intern at the Forward. You can contact her at [email protected].
Image by Getty Images
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Dive In
-
News ‘Qatargate’ and the web of huge scandals rocking Israel, explained
-
News Who would protect New York Jews better? Cuomo and Lander trade attacks on the campaign trail
-
News Rabbis revolt over LGBTQ+ club, exposing fight over queer acceptance at Yeshiva University
-
Fast Forward What Mahmoud Khalil says about Gaza and Israel in ‘The Encampments’ documentary
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 3
Fast Forward Cory Booker proclaims, ‘Hineni’ — I am here — 19 hours into anti-Trump Senate speech
- 4
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion The ADL reversed its support for Trump’s student deportations. You should too
-
Fast Forward Senate rejects Bernie Sanders’ proposal to block some weapons sales to Israel
-
Fast Forward Sotheby’s to auction earliest known kiddush cup
-
Opinion Trump’s new tariffs on Israel are a BDS dream come true
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.