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American personality (born 1982) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kenneth Bone (born 1982) is an American citizen who became a viral phenomenon after asking a question as an undecided voter at the October 9 presidential debate during the 2016 United States election. Bone subsequently received national media attention and inspired a large number of Internet memes.
Ken Bone | |
|---|---|
Bone at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) | |
| Born | 1982 (age 41–42) |
| Occupation | Power plant worker |
| Known for | 2016 presidential debate appearance |
| Spouse | Heather |
| Children | 1 |
At the October 9 presidential debate during the 2016 United States elections, Ken Bone, a coal power plant operator from Belleville, Illinois, was one of several local undecided voters invited to participate in the debate between Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump.[1][2] Bone asked the question:
What steps will your energy policy take to meet our energy needs while at the same time remaining environmentally friendly and minimizing job loss for fossil power plant workers?[3]
Bone quickly became a viral sensation on social media, immediately gaining over 80,000 followers on Twitter after the debate.[2] Multiple parody and fan pages were created under his name on various platforms.[1] Bone's red sweater, use of a disposable camera before and after the debate, and general demeanor was received positively by viewers of the event, and spawned numerous Internet memes.[4][5][6] Bone maintained that he would remain an undecided voter after the debate.[7] He ultimately voted for Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.[8]
After the debate, Bone made appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live!,[9][10] @midnight,[11] and ESPN College GameDay.[12] Bone was also parodied on Saturday Night Live and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.[13][14][15] Bone capitalized on his sudden fame by endorsing ridesharing company Uber with a tweet,[16] filming a commercial for Izod,[17] and partnering with merchandise company Represent to market T-shirts.[18] An emoji with Bone's likeness was briefly available on Twitter, and would appear whenever the hashtag #MyVote2016 was used.[19][20] Bone also auctioned off the red sweater he wore during the debate, raising $10,000 for the charity Greater St. Louis Honor Flight.[13]
On October 13, 2016, Bone hosted a Reddit AMA under the username "StanGibson18".[21] After the post went live, Bone received backlash for comments he previously made using his personal account regarding the 2014 celebrity nude photo leak and killing of Trayvon Martin.[22][23][24][25] As a result of the media attention, Bone was also swatted and received threats directed at him and his family.[13]
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Bone continued to make public appearances related to United States politics after the 2016 election, appearing on Real Time with Bill Maher and at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference.[26][27] Since 2016, Bone expressed dissatisfaction towards the Trump administration, first implying that he would likely vote for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election and later endorsing Andrew Yang.[13][28][29] Bone voted for Libertarian Party nominee Jo Jorgensen in the 2020 election.[8] He was the subject of an October 2020 New Yorker documentary, in which he reflects on the 2016 election and the effect fame had on his life.[30]
Bone is married to Heather Bone, whom he met in high school. They have a son named Logan.[31]
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