# Ken Bone

> A debate voter became a meme; Bone later reported nearly 4,000 shirt sales.

- Owner: null
- Kind: Meme & format
- Sector: Politics & civic
- Seed date: 2016-10-09
- Peak proxy date: Week of Oct 10, 2016
- Date basis: Proxy date; not a directly measured attention peak. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 41 (Notable), v1.3
- Mechanics: Response chain, Platform jump, Press loop, Sell-out loop, Controversy

## Summary

Bone’s televised debate appearance prompted audience jokes, fan accounts and TV interviews. His red sweater sold out in regular sizes on Amazon. Commercial tie-ins followed, while a Reddit AMA brought scrutiny of his earlier comments.

## Timeline

- 2016-10-09 — Ken Bone (TV) — Bone asked Clinton and Trump about energy policy at the St. Louis town-hall debate.
- 2016-10-10 — Twitter users (X) — Viewers posted jokes about Bone’s name and red sweater during the debate.
- 2016-10-10 — New York Magazine (Press) — Select All collected audience jokes about Bone’s sweater, name and possible Halloween costumes.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/ken-bone

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Ken Bone.” Case HIS-01530. Spread Score v1.3: 41/100. Updated 2026-10-23. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01530