Bernie Sanders' Steel Chair

On January 20th, 2017, as Donald Trump took the oath of office, someone on the internet looked at Senator Bernie Sanders sitting in the crowd and saw not a defeated primary candidate, but a man biding his time. The caption wrote itself: "BY GOD IT'S BERNIE SANDERS WITH A STEEL CHAIR!"

The format—lifted wholesale from WWE's legendary announcer Jim Ross—imagined political events as professional wrestling matches. Bernie wasn't attending the inauguration; he was about to interfere. The image racked up nearly 80,000 views on Know Your Meme alone, but more importantly, it created a template. Any time Bernie appeared somewhere unexpected, the steel chair came with him.

The genius was the contrast: a 75-year-old democratic socialist reimagined as a wrestling heel making a surprise run-in. The meme tapped into the same vein as Unexpected John Cena—the collision of political earnestness and WWE absurdism.

Nine years later, the format endures. Bernie shows up at a protest? Steel chair. Bernie looks vaguely annoyed? He's planning something. The inauguration that inspired it has faded, but the image of Sanders wielding folding furniture lives on in the minds of everyone who wants politics to be a little more theatrical.

He's still waiting in the wings. He's still got the chair.