Step aside, Larry David: Vermonters have been honing their Bernie Sanders impressions for years

Residents of Burlington, Vermont were imitating Bernie Sanders long before Larry David spoofed the Vermont senator on Saturday Night Live. In fact, The New York Times reports that just about anyone who has lived in Burlington — the town where Sanders was mayor in the '80s — has a rendition of the socialist senator's signature Brooklyn accent and his shtick on "billion-AY-ahs" and the "vanishing middle class."
"As they share their stories, the tone of their voices sometimes drops an octave or two, the occasional 'billionaire' becomes a 'billion-AY-ah,' the consonants punctuated by a slightly harsher cluck, and the leafy pedestrian Church Street starts to sound a little more like Flatbush Avenue.Indeed, Mr. Sanders' thick Brooklyn accent, developed as a child growing up in the Flatbush neighborhood and oddly never dissipating despite living for decades in Vermont, is able to be replicated, to varying degrees of accuracy, by most who have called Burlington home for a number of years." [The New York Times]
Watch Vermonters give Sanders their best shot in the video below. Becca Stanek
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Political cartoons for October 20
Cartoons Monday’s political cartoons include a $40 billion bailout for Argentina, Prince Andrew's titles, chaos at the CDC, and more
-
From Da Vinci to a golden toilet: a history of museum heists
In the Spotlight Following the ‘spectacular’ events at the Louvre, museums are ‘increasingly being targeted by criminal gangs’
-
Can Gen Z uprisings succeed where other protest movements failed?
Today's Big Question Apolitical and leaderless, youth-led protests have real power but are vulnerable to the strongman opportunist
-
DOJ indicts John Bolton over classified files
Speed Read Continuing the trend of going after his political enemies, Trump prosecutes his former national security adviser
-
Trump, Putin set summit as Zelenskyy lands in DC
Speed Read Trump and Putin have agreed to meet in Budapest soon to discuss ending the war in Ukraine
-
Courts deal setbacks to Trump’s Chicago operations
Speed Read President Donald Trump cannot deploy the National Guard in Illinois
-
Pentagon reporters turn in badges after refusing rules
Speed Read They refused to sign a restrictive new press policy imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
-
Supreme Court points to gutting Voting Rights Act
speed read States would no longer be required to consider race when drawing congressional maps
-
Trump says he authorized covert CIA ops in Venezuela
Speed Read He is also considering military strikes inside the country
-
‘Vile, racist’ leaked chats roil Young Republicans
Speed Read Leaders of Young Republican groups made racist, antisemitic and violent comments in private chats
-
Trump ties $20B Argentina bailout to Milei votes
speed read Trump will boost Argentina’s economy — if the country’s right-wing president wins upcoming elections