Ken Bone wins the internet during Trump, Clinton town hall debate: ‘What a gem’

The internet quickly decided on a winner of the second U.S. presidential debate from St. Louis on Sunday night: Ken Bone.

An honest question, a red sweater, a mustache, and a pleasant demeanor sparked a social media frenzy on Sunday night as presidential hopefuls Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton faced off in Missouri.

Close to 60,000 Twitter users turned “Ken Bone” into a trending topic, GQ magazine mulled ways to assemble a Ken Bone Halloween costume, and T-shirts went up for sale.

“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?” Mr. Bone asked the Republican and Democrat nominees when cued from moderators Anderson Cooper of CNN and Martha Raddatz of ABC News.

“Ken Bone was the only audience member whose question wasn’t WHAT ABOUT MY NEEDS?” responded popular social media commentator Iowa Hawk. “Ken Bone reminds us that outside the media/political culture, there are actually nice people who aren’t evil dangerous garbage.”

“I’m not the hero you want. I’m the hero you need,” a parody account of Mr. Bone added shortly afterward.

“I bet Ken Bone brings roses to his wife randomly. Just because. What a gem,” said Pam Chvotkin.

Mr. Bone took his newfound fame in stride on Monday during an interview with CNN.

“I went from, last night, having seven Twitter followers, two of which were my grandmother…to now, I have several hundred,” Mr. Bone said. “And I don’t know why they care what I have to say, but I’m glad they’re engaged in the political process.”

Well. That was that.

Here’s a little folk ditty for Ken Bone.

Because why not. pic.twitter.com/iNZ0UCLkeV

— (((Jonathan Mann))) (@songadaymann) October 10, 2016