‘I am once again asking you to cum’: the Bernie mittens meme is now a porn genre

By Malavika Pradeep

Published Jan 29, 2021 at 10:45 AM

Reading time: 2 minutes

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Image by Mick Haupt from Unsplash

US Senator Bernie Sanders probably didn’t think much of Rule 34 before deciding on his wardrobe for President Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony last week. He pulled off his iconic brown parka with a pair of Vermont mittens and a surgical mask—a cosy outfit choice against the cold January winds. He then sat in his designated, socially-distanced chair, completely oblivious to the fact that the move would later inspire adult entertainer Elle Hell to spearhead an entire PornHub genre with a video titled I am once again asking you to cum.

“Too many hard-working Americans are working two, three jobs just to make ends meet,” Hell starts, entering the frame donned in her version of the Bernie outfit with the subtle addition of a manilla envelope. “I think Americans should be able to work one job to take care of things,” she continues with a brief pause, giving viewers enough time to digest the innuendo. The five-minute “instructional video” takes a quick 360 after Hell rids herself of the manilla and everything vanilla. The mittens, however, miraculously stay on throughout the video.

In an interview with Vice, Hell admits to being a longtime fan of the Senator and hoped to see him in the 2016 and 2020 primaries and presidential races. She further states, “Porn doesn’t always have to be sexy, penetration, or even masturbation. Sometimes it’s silly and gives you a laugh. At the end of the day, whether someone laughed, came, or both, I am happy that it was enjoyed.”

This surprisingly isn’t the first porn parody feature of Bernie Sanders on the internet. Weekend at Bernie Sanders’ was published way back in 2016, featuring the Senator renting out a room to a widow during the annual maple syrup convention in Burlington—we’re digging the specifics too. It was followed up with The Day I Really Felt The Bern in 2019, a response to the controversial rape fantasy essay authored by the Senator himself. These eroticas however, second an orgy parody made by the adult site Cam Soda featuring Sanders alongside Donald Trump, Hilary Clinton and Megan Kelly.

Bernie Sanders has always managed to stay on the internet limelight with tons of meme entries dedicated to his name. The most recent inauguration meme, however, has a timeline of its own apart from the porn parody.

Hours after the Senator sported his iconic mittens, Twitter nerds tracked down the source—Jen Ellis, a teacher from Vermont—to get their hands on a pair themselves. Official Bernie Sanders merchandise, featuring the meme on a sweatshirt, sold out hours after its release and has helped raise a whopping $1.8 million for charity. People can also order cookies, candles, bobbleheads and valentine’s day cards exclusively dedicated to the meme. The trend doesn’t stop there—people around the globe are now getting it tattooed on themselves. All of this was triggered by the initial photoshopping of the Senator’s cutout into literally every corner of the world—and we’ve rounded up some of the best ones (so far):