Bernie Sanders laughing at the viral inauguration memes as well

Like most on the internet, United States Senator Bernie Sanders is also laughing at the viral memes of him sitting alone with his face mask, winter coat and patchwork mittens at Wednesday's presidential inauguration.

Sanders said he was entertained by the now-ubiquitous portrait on Thursday's episode of "Late Night With Seth Meyers," which has Twitter hailing the Vermont senator for his attention to social distancing and practical fashion choices.

When Meyers created one of his favourites takes on the meme, putting Inauguration Bernie on a couch with the ladies of "Sex and the City," Sanders couldn't help but chuckle and asked whether Sanders had been watching his social media popularity.

"Yeah, I've seen 'em," the 79-year-old politician said. "What's been really nice is the woman who made the mittens lives in Essex Junction, Vt. She is a schoolteacher and a very, very nice person, and she has been somewhat overwhelmed by the kind of attention that is being shown to her mittens."

About the viral photo taken by Photographer Brendan Smialowski of the Agence France-Presse news service, Sanders said "I was just sitting there, trying to keep warm, trying to pay attention to what was going on."

There was also online speculation as to the contents of the manila envelope he was holding which ranged from "executive orders for Biden to sign" to "an article Bernie cut out of the newspaper that he thought Biden would find interesting."

"I'd love to tell you, Seth," Sanders said coyly on "Late Night" when asked about the package. "It's top secret."

Sanders told Meyers he was "in tears seeing the new president getting sworn in and the old president leaving Washington." Even though the Senate already has plenty of work to do, he also advocated for the swift conviction of Donald Trump after the former president was impeached for a second time following this month's pro-Trump attack on the Capitol Building.

"We have got to show the American people that we can walk and chew bubblegum at the same time," Sanders said. "We don't have the time to spend weeks and months on impeachment. People are hungry in America today. They're facing eviction. They have no income. They're worried about the future. ... We can go forward simultaneously on all of these issues, if we're prepared to roll up our sleeves and get to work."