Near the end of the second presidential debate between Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, a man from the audience named Kenneth Bone stood up to ask a question about energy or something and stole America’s heart.
Though the actual subject matter of his question has already been lost to history, that hasn’t stopped Ken Bone from becoming an instant meme on debate night thanks to his pleasant demeanor, that mustache, that welcoming red pullover, how easy it would be to imagine him as a cartoon character — basically, everything about Ken Bone lends himself to becoming an immediate worldwide sensation. It was just a delightful distraction from this tire fire of an election season we’re mired in.
Which is why he is, as of publish time, the most talked about thing on Twitter, trending in the U.S. just below the #debate hashtag.
https://twitter.com/BarstoolJordie/status/785306908357984256
The debate was a “town hall style” debate, which meant Trump and Clinton sat on high chairs and could walk around whenever they wanted instead of being stuck standing behind podiums — and they brought in some “undecided voters” to ask questions they had written for the candidates. It’s a good thing the debate organizers saved Ken Bone for late in the debate, because if we had seen him earlier we might have ended up forgetting everything that happened after. Or maybe that would have been preferable.
In any case, check out all these excellent social media responses to the greatness of Ken Bone.
I can't hook you with a Ken Bone x Bone Thugs vine then I might as well shut this thing down https://t.co/5CRHJ8MaoD
— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) October 10, 2016
https://twitter.com/CDieckster/status/785310733655572480
https://twitter.com/john___what/status/785311869137543168
Ken Bone probably has a hot wife
— Tanya Chen 陈天依 (@tanyachen) October 10, 2016
Immediately after the debate Ken Bone is interrogated on the disappearance of Woody pic.twitter.com/fz59ABFxxt
— Men's Thoughts (@Males_Thoughts) October 10, 2016
https://twitter.com/TheKenBone/status/785313903106486273
When you're Ken Bone, every day is spooky Halloween display name day.
— Mr. Highlight Reel (Official) (@Papapishu) October 10, 2016
.@bibbymoynihan are you ready to play Ken Bone on the @nbcsnl cold open next week? #debate
— Susan Blackwell (@Susan_Blackwell) October 10, 2016
"Our final question is about the economy and it comes from Jack Off."
— Matt Singer (@mattsinger) October 10, 2016
https://twitter.com/MrBrandonStroud/status/785306449157033984
Ken Bone rides off into the sunset #debate #kenbone pic.twitter.com/4BjaI985zr
— Matt (@Matt_Campbe) October 10, 2016