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Why Was Bernie Sanders Looking Like A Bill on Capitol Hill this Weekend?

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Bernie Sanders was caught in reprise in a photo that went viral over the weekend and was compared to the famous ‘”I’m Just a Bill” cartoon that was part of the School House Rock animated Saturday morning series from the 1970s.

Insider says Sanders has become a meme once more.

Known affectionately by some as Uncle Bernie, the 80-year-old senator was captured by Los Angeles Times photojournalist Kent Nishimura sitting on the steps outside the US Capitol during a 15-hour Sunday “vote-a-rama” to pass the Inflation Reduction Act — a $740 billion climate, healthcare, and tax package.

New York City photographer Clayton Cubitt posted an apropos comparison of the photo with an image from a Schoolhouse Rock song called “I’m Just a Bill.

The song, written by Dave Frishberg and performed by Jack Sheldon, has become an educational staple since its release in 1976 —teaching children about the process a bill undergoes before it’s turned into law by way of a catchy tune.

“I’m just a bill. Yes, I’m only a bill,” the song begins. “And I’m sitting here on Capitol Hill,” the song continues, showing the seemingly exhausted animated paper roll sitting on the steps as Sanders did on Sunday.

The photo comes after another meme of Sanders sitting in a chair at President Biden’s inauguration in January 2021 made its rounds on the internet featuring the Senator photoshopped into a variety of situations.

Above: Former presidential candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) sits in the bleachers on Capitol Hill before Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th US President on January 20, 2021, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC.  BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

When interviewed afterward by Seth Meyers on his late-night TV show, Sanders explained that he was simply “just sitting there trying to keep warm, trying to pay attention to what was going on.”

Watch the cartoon below.