Why Cynthia Nixon's Unexpected Golden Globes Guest Caused A Stir

Cynthia Nixon might not be able to get her hands on Bernie Sanders mittens — but she did score a life-size cutout of the meme for the Golden Globes. The Sex and the City star, who previously ran for governor of New York, sat beside Manhattan district attorney candidate Tahanie Aboushi, her 10-year-old son Max, and wife Christine Marinoni. However, viewers can also see a slouched and crossed arm Bernie Sanders in all his 2-D glory behind the main group.

The popular picture of Sanders looking snug at the 2021 Presidential Inauguration became the subject of thousands of memes, almost overshadowing the ceremony itself. Users on social media were desperate to warm their hands with his cozy mittens, which led the original maker — an elementary school teacher — to partner with the Vermont Teddy Bear company to meet the global demand, per The Guardian. Clearly, Nixon is still on the waiting list. The 54-year-old actor was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or Motion Picture for TV for her work on Ryan Murphy's Netflix hit Ratched. Yet, while she did not win the honor, she did garner the best reactions on Twitter.

Cynthia Nixon's Bernie Sanders gag garnered the best social media responses of the night

The 78th Golden Globes was held virtually this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which led celebrities to be a little more creative to gain the spotlight. Cynthia Nixon chose to endorse the Bernie Sanders mittens meme, which proved to be extremely popular online. 

One person said, "The #GoldenGlobes for best performance of a Bernie Sanders cutout in an awards show goes to Cynthia Nixon." Another wrote, "NOT Cynthia Nixon HAVING BERNIE SANDERS IN THE BACKGROUND IM HOWLING." Even Manhattan district attorney candidate Tahanie Aboushi's sister, Linda Sarsour, provided her thoughts on the Sanders moment, calling it "amazing." 

"I love Cynthia Nixon from the deepest place of my heart," she wrote. "Also, seeing my sister @TahanieNYC & Bernie Sanders just made this even more amazing." Nixon also uploaded a picture of her virtual Golden Globes party to Instagram — in a very family portrait-style photoshoot look — captioning it, "Watching at home." 

Sanders previously responded to this newfound meme attention on Late Night with Seth Meyers when he casually said, "I was just sitting there, trying to keep warm, trying to pay attention to what was going on" (per BuzzFeed). Sanders has yet to provide his public support as Nixon's 2-D Golden Globes guest, but no doubt the 79-year-old would be all for it.