Washington (AFP)

US Senator Bernie Sanders announced Wednesday to donate to charities the $ 1.8 million raised from sales of products stamped with the now famous AFP photo showing him alone, bundled up with folded arms, at the inauguration of Joe Biden .

Immortalized by AFP photographer Brendan Smialowski, this moment inspired thousands of humorous photomontages around the world, reinforcing the former progressive presidential candidate, with a passionate tone and often grumpy air, in his status as internet star.

Independent Senator from Vermont Raised $ 1.8 Million "in Five Days for Charities" in this rural northeastern US state, through sales of products showing him "with his mittens" to day of the inauguration of the new Democratic president on January 20, a statement said.

T-shirts, sweaters and other related products went on sale on its site on the evening of January 21 and stocks were exhausted in thirty minutes.

New products added this weekend had all been sold on Monday morning, said this press release.

"Jane", his wife "and I are in awe of the creativity shown by so many people (...) and we are delighted to help Vermonters in need," he wrote in a statement.

"But even this sum cannot replace congressional action and I will do what I can in Washington to make sure workers in Vermont and across the country get the support they need in the midst of the world's worst crisis. that we have been through since the Great Depression, ”added the senator, a self-proclaimed socialist.

Getty Images, the agency that distributes AFP's photos in the United States, "will donate the proceeds" from the merchandising deal to the charity Meals on Wheels, the statement said.

Brendan Smialowski considers "impressive" the evolution of this image "and all its variations".

"When I took this photo, I thought it was a good time, which was worth a few shots," he told AFP on Wednesday.

“While I never expect, and never seek, that my work will go viral or convert into memes,” these humorous montages, “don't surprise me in the sense that the internet, and social media, are unpredictable, ”he added.

"The internet looks like a wild animal, hard to anticipate and hard to tame."

© 2021 AFP