On Friday, Senator Bernie Sanders made an appearance at a Ben & Jerry's factory in St. Albans, Vermont, getting a tour of the facility and meeting with the ice cream giant's employees to understand what kinds of concerns they had about their jobs, the state, and presumably, the current presidential administration. He was asked about the minimum wage and the implications for farmers, small business owners and—wait, is he standing in a tub of ice cream? Like, is he inside a pint of Ben & Jerry's while he shouts about special interests?With the exception of local Vermont media outlets, the focus was less about what Sanders said and more about the podium he stood behind which, yeah, made it look like he was partially submerged in a pint of Truffle Kerfuffle. Sanders tweeted a picture of himself speaking to the Ben & Jerry's crowd, and the internet responded by collectively giggling, then tweeting their best responses to the photo.
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There is so much to unpack here, and that's before we even get to the cow-print window valance. (Also, this event is just one Phish jam away from being the most Vermont thing that has ever Vermonted.) Although Bernie Sanders didn't actually turn into a sentient, socialist ice cream flavor, he has previously been honored with his own variety of the stuff.Last January, Ben & Jerry's co-founder Ben Cohen announced the creation of Bernie's Yearning, an uncomfortably named limited-edition ice cream that was a mint and chocolate flavor combo. "The chocolate disc represents the huge majority of economic gains that gone to the top 1 percent since the end of the recession," the ice cream's carton said. "Beneath it, the rest of us."Cohen stressed that it was not an official Ben & Jerry's release; only 40 pints were created, with 25 of them going to the Sanders campaign, and the remaining 15 given away to the winners of a contest.Back in St. Albans, Sanders said that he will introduce legislation to raise the national minimum wage to $15. But still! Look at him standing in that ice cream!