It’s no surprise that Sen. Bernie Sanders — perhaps the loudest of the 2020 candidates in any debate — is never short of passion when it comes to the presidential race. But in his most recent tenure atop the polls, Sanders has also become an unwitting comedy icon and celebrity magnet, replete with some extremely famous endorsements backing his candidacy. Thanks to the combination of Larry David’s near-perfect SNL portrayal of Sanders paired with his heated debate moments, Sanders can now add another quality to his resume: memeability.
It happened in his most recent call to action, specifically to help garner fundraising and support for his campaign. Sanders tweeted out a video of him wearing a heavy winter coat in his trademark east coast accent asking for donations. Below him read the words "I am once again asking for your financial support."
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The truth is, we have an excellent chance to win the primary and beat Trump.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) December 30, 2019
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
For reasons that we cannot quite put into words, the Internet reacted in kind, quickly turning Sanders into a meme that we've now dubbed "I am once again asking." The meme is simple: replace the words "for your financial support" with basically any other request that would definitely not be delivered as a serious demand Bernie Sanders, and let the laughs roll in. Here are some examples:
And, the meme became Super Bowl relevant quite quickly, too.
I am once again asking you to stop talking to me about sports
— Kate Willett (@katewillett) February 3, 2020
Sanders’ popularity with younger, left-leaning voters has always been present, and his penchant for staying in meme territory comes at an important time for him at the polls. As of Monday, the politician is among four leading candidate in Iowa as the state’s Caucus Day occurs. As of Monday afternoon, Sanders holds a firm 28 percent compared to former Vice President Joe Biden’s 21 percent.
Looking back to his days as the Democratic presidential hopeful in 2016, its no surprise that Sanders makes for a great meme, considering his youthful voter-base who have a penchant for turning everything into an Instagram pun. Moreover, Sanders' fundraising and support rallies are essentially millennial + gen z bait, particularly when he throws benefit concerts with bands like Vampire Weekend and Bon Iver, who have also cemented their support for the Vermont Senator. His continued memeability is only the icing on the cake.
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