# Ken Bone Ken Bone is the undecided voter whose bright red cardigan, mustache, and earnest energy-policy question at the second 2016 US presidential debate turned him into an overnight internet folk hero. His awkward charm and suggestive last name made him one of the defining side-character memes of the 2016 election cycle. ## Origin The origin moment was the town hall segment of the second 2016 US presidential debate, held October 9, 2016 at Washington University in St. Louis. Moderator Anderson Cooper called on Bone near the end of the night, and he asked Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump what steps their energy policies would take to meet energy needs while staying environmentally friendly and minimizing job layoffs[2]. His delivery, red sweater, and mustache were the visual hook, and clips of the exchange spread on YouTube almost immediately[6]. New York Magazine's Select All blog published a piece anointing Bone an internet celebrity within about an hour of the debate ending, framing him as the night's real winner[1]. Bone had planned to wear an olive suit but split the seat of his pants getting into his car on the way to the debate, so the now-iconic red cardigan was a last-minute backup outfit[1]. - **Platform:** Televised debate (ABC/CNN broadcast) / Twitter (viral spread) - **Creator:** Kenneth Bone - **Date:** 2016 ## Overview Ken Bone is Kenneth Bone, a power plant operator from Belleville, Illinois who was picked as one of the undecided voters at the second 2016 US presidential debate and became a Twitter obsession within minutes of asking his question about energy policy[1]. The joke was mostly visual and phonetic: a soft-spoken man in a bright red cardigan and thick black glasses, with a mustache, a disposable camera, and a last name that internet users immediately weaponized into puns like the Bone Zone[2]. The meme worked as ironic fandom rather than a template. There was no image macro format to fill in, just an outpouring of adoring tweets, Photoshops, parody accounts, and Halloween costumes treating a middle-aged undecided voter like a folk hero[3]. Coverage split roughly between the red-cardigan visual and the earnest, apolitical vibe he gave off during an otherwise ugly Clinton versus Trump debate[2]. The fandom curdled fast. Within days of the debate, Bone did a Reddit AMA under his real username StanGibson18, and reporters mined his post history for comments about the leaked Jennifer Lawrence photos and the shooting of Trayvon Martin, flipping the tone of coverage from adoration to disappointment[4][5]. ## How It Spread Twitter drove the initial wave. Bone told CNN the morning after that his personal account had gone from seven followers, two of them his grandmother, to several hundred overnight, and coverage from CNN, New York Magazine, and others pushed the count much higher within a day[2]. A parody account, @TheKenBone, cleared 65,000 followers in about 24 hours, and a Facebook fan page picked up more than 4,500 followers overnight[3]. Short clips from after the debate, including Bone shaking hands with Bill Clinton and photographing the stage with a disposable camera, kept the moment alive on Twitter through October 10[7][8]. Commerce and TV bookings followed the viral wave. Online retailer Redbubble filled with Bone shirts, pillows, and stickers, and lingerie site Yandy.com released a $100 Sexy Ken Bone Halloween costume that sold out within a day[3]. Adult site CamSoda publicly offered Bone $100,000 and 25 disposable cameras to appear on their platform for an hour, pitching the segment as a trip to the Bone Zone[3]. He also did the morning news circuit and appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that same week[3]. The backlash landed on October 13, when Bone hosted a Reddit AMA using his existing account StanGibson18, letting anyone dig through his comment history[5]. Reporters at Gizmodo and The Daily Beast surfaced old comments in which he defended looking at the hacked Jennifer Lawrence photos and called the shooting of Trayvon Martin justified, and coverage pivoted from fandom to knock-down pieces within hours[4][5]. A later flare-up in April 2018, when Bone tweeted a photo of his son at a gun range in reply to Parkland survivor Kyle Kashuv, briefly put him back in the news cycle but without the original wave of goodwill[3]. ## How to Use Ken Bone is a personality meme rather than a template, so usage is mostly referential. Common conventions include calling any earnest, awkward, or oddly wholesome figure in a political news cycle a Ken Bone, riffing on the phrase Bone Zone, or pulling up the red-cardigan image as a reaction to any mention of undecided voters or the 2016 debates[2][3]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Ken Bone? Ken Bone is Kenneth Bone, an undecided voter who asked an energy-policy question at the second 2016 US presidential debate and became a viral internet celebrity thanks to his red cardigan, mustache, and gentle demeanor[1]. ### Where did Ken Bone come from? He appeared at the town hall segment of the October 9, 2016 presidential debate in St. Louis, when moderator Anderson Cooper called on him to question Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump about energy policy[2]. ### What does Ken Bone mean? It refers both to the actual man and to the ironic fandom that formed around him on Twitter and Facebook the night of the debate, with users joking about his outfit, mustache, and last name[1][3]. ### How do you use Ken Bone? People typically invoke Ken Bone as a reference to earnest, awkward political side characters or to riff on Bone Zone puns rather than filling in a fixed image-macro template[3]. ### Is Ken Bone still popular? The peak was October 2016, and while he still gets referenced in retrospectives about the 2016 election, the meme is a classic 2016 artifact rather than an active format[2][3]. ### Why did Ken Bone wear a red sweater? The red cardigan was a backup outfit; Bone had planned to wear an olive suit but split the seat of his pants getting into his car on the way to the debate[1]. ### What is the Bone Zone? Bone Zone is a pun on Kenneth Bone's last name that spread on Twitter and was picked up by outlets and even adult site CamSoda, which pitched him a $100,000 appearance framed as a trip to the Bone Zone[3]. ### What happened during Ken Bone's Reddit AMA? On October 13, 2016, Bone hosted an AMA using his existing account StanGibson18, and reporters quickly surfaced past comments about the leaked Jennifer Lawrence photos and Trayvon Martin's death, souring public opinion[4][5]. ### Did Ken Bone say who he voted for? He told CNN the morning after the debate that he was more undecided than ever, though he said he was leaning toward Trump while noting Clinton's composure impressed him[2]. ### What was the disposable camera moment? After the debate, Bone pulled out a disposable camera to take pictures on the stage, and the image became one of the most-shared visuals in his rise to internet fame[2]. ## References 1. [https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/10/kenneth-bone-asks-energy-question-in-red-sweater-at-debate.html]() 2. [https://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/10/politics/debate-ken-bone-staring-man-trnd/index.html]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/people/ken-bone]() 4. [https://gizmodo.com/ken-bone-forgot-to-delete-his-porn-comments-1787780939]() 5. [https://www.thedailybeast.com/ken-bones-disturbing-reddit-history-shows-hes-not-nearly-as-adorable-as-we-thought]() 6. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdpoJHvxk2I]() 7. [https://x.com/i/status/785310627220848640]() 8. [https://x.com/i/status/785333147307089920]() 9. [https://x.com/i/status/785489769929273344]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/ken-bone Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library