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By B.L. Ochman @whatsnext

In the midst of the most contentious and frightening Presidential Debates in American history, Ken Bone and his red sweater became heroes – and memes.

Are we fiddling while Rome burns, or just in desperate need of comic relief?
Stay tuned.

Bone an operator at a coal plant in Illinois, was one of the undecided voters selected to ask a question at the town hall debate broadcast live on Sunday night. He asked Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump about their energy policies.

“I’m just glad I was able to spark the energy debate a little bit,” he told The New York Times. It was kind of getting overlooked.”

An overnight sensation

Ken_Bone_Red_SweaterKen Bone’s Twitter following blossomed to 135K in the days following the debate where America fell in love with him and his red sweater.

Bone is now urging people to get out and vote as he makes the interview rounds and enjoys his new-found fame.

The sweater’s tale

He still claims to be undecided. It’s quite likely his new fame will disappear as fast as it came if Bone should decide and share support for the trash talking Trump.

The sweater, by Izod, sold out immediately, as did similar ones on other sites. Izod news-jacked with a Tweet “There’s no debate. The “Town Hall” look is the one to rock”

Bone told CNN he changed to the sweater from a suit because the pants of the suit ripped when he got into the car and he had to go back and change. (How cute is that!?) Apparently, he’d gained about 30 pounds since the last time he wore the suit.

Parody Accounts and Interviews

There’s even a parody account, @TheKenBone, who has 11.6K followers. He’s Tweeting stuff like “Retweet and follow and on Friday I’ll pick a winner who will win a Ken Bone sweater! Must be following to win.” And he suggesting that Ken Bone run for President. (Perhaps he can take over when Donald Trump drops out.)

#KenBoneFacts trended on Twitter and appeared in Twitter Moments. These included one by Shoshana Weissman: #KenBoneFactsJohn John 9:3: Jesus said to Ken Bone, “You’re asking the right question.”

Snoop Dog wants to get high with Ken Bone

Snoop Dog invited Bone to switch to a blue sweater in support of Democrats, and “Come to the crib and smoke 1 wit Tha Dogg.”

@AboveAverage Tweeted:

And @Brooklyn Tweeted Am I the only one who sees the resemblance between Al from Toy Story and #KenBone

Stephen Colbert and Jonathan Mann both wrote songs toasting Ken Bone.