Smooth Bernie

About

Smooth Bernie is a conspiracy theory that alleges Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders underwent cosmetic procedures to smooth wrinkles in his forehead.

Origin

On November 20th, 2019, the Washington Free Beacon^[1] published the article "Bernie Sanders Flaunts Suspiciously Smooth Forehead at Democratic Debate." In the article, author Andrew Stiles alleges that Sanders received "cosmetic procedures," comparing a Sanders' appearance at an October 24th, 2019 event and his appearance Democratic Party Presidential Debates in Atlanta on November 20th. They wrote:

The curmudgeonly 78-year-old socialist, who has yet to explain whether cosmetic procedures such as Botox injections would be covered under his ambitious Medicare for All proposal, was unusually wrinkle-free in the forehead area on Wednesday night.

Spread

Following the release of the article, people mocked the theory online. Twitter ^[2] user @kenklippenstein tweeted, "Smooth Bernie is easily the funniest conspiracy theory this year." The post received more than 70,000 likes and 9,500 retweets in less than three days (shown below, left).

Twitter^[3] user @OldPappyThomas responded to @kenklippenstein with a photograph of Sanders altered in the FaceApp application, which smoothed out the Senator's facial features. The post received more than 1,600 likes and 90 retweets in less than three days (shown below, center).

Some made jokes about the image by comparing "Smooth Bernie" to other "smooth" memes, like Smooth Yoda (shown below, right).

The following day, Gizmodo^[4] published a report explaining how lighting can change out one's skin appears. They wrote:

This is really basic stuff that even Instagram influencers know. There are many, many ways to light a person in a flattering way, but generally, overhead lighting is not one of them. It’s why ring lights are so popular (they evenly distribute light without having to set up multiple lamps) and why everyone looks like a frightening old hag in your office bathrooms that have ceiling fluorescents.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References