--- title: Ken Bone Twitter: Undecided Voter Takes Off Red Sweater description: Sunday's debate-night breakout star—the sweater-wearing audience member Kenneth Bone—admitted on Twitter that he does take off the sweater. canonical: https://time.com/4526847/ken-bone-sweater/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-11T17:13:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T06:50:23.570Z og:title: Ken Bone Issues Apology for Briefly Removing Red Sweater og:description: The viral sweater-wearing hit from Sunday's debate doesn't always wear red. og:url: https://time.com/4526847/ken-bone-sweater/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06745fef2a81d5d1/6988a988656a3ff5cfbcd698/ken-bone-red-sweater.jpg?branch=production&width=1183&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1183 og:image:height: 665 og:image:alt: US-VOTE-PEOPLE-BONE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ken Bone Issues Apology for Briefly Removing Red Sweater twitter:description: The viral sweater-wearing hit from Sunday's debate doesn't always wear red. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06745fef2a81d5d1/6988a988656a3ff5cfbcd698/ken-bone-red-sweater.jpg?branch=production&width=1183&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ken Bone Issues Public Apology for Briefly Removing Red Sweater > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=5b614c62-7d6a-4994-ba39-4ea114ae3439&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Debate Audience Member Ken Bones [Watch (HLS stream): Debate Audience Member Ken Bones](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PZ66wgWb.m3u8) (0:13)  _Published 2016-10-10. During the heated clash of Sunday night’s presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, an unexpected winner emerged._  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 11, 2016 5:13 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 11, 2016 5:13 PM UTC The Internet’s [favorite red-sweater-wearing man of the people](http://time.com/4525241/ken-bone-presidential-debate/?iid=sr-link2), presidential [debate hero Kenneth Bone](http://time.com/4525241/ken-bone-presidential-debate/?iid=sr-link2), has inspired a slew of viral memes since his television debut on Sunday (and a rush to emulate his iconic style; [his sweater is still available online at JCPenny](http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=93xLBvPhAeE&subid=0&offerid=461347.1&type=10&tmpid=1701&RD%5FPARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jcpenney.com%2Fizod-durham-sweater%2Fprod.jump%3F&RD%5FPARM2=ppId%3Dppr5007133448&u1=TIMEkenbone)). But the man—who [openly admits](http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/10/politics/ken-bone-reveals-new-details-from-debate/) that his wife is the one behind his fashion choices, and that the red sweater get-up was a last-minute decision, based on a wardrobe malfunction—proved on Tuesday that, despite popular belief, he is not inextricably half-zipped into the [bright cable-knit](http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=93xLBvPhAeE&subid=0&offerid=461347.1&type=10&tmpid=1701&RD%5FPARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jcpenney.com%2Fizod-durham-sweater%2Fprod.jump%3F&RD%5FPARM2=ppId%3Dppr5007133448&u1=TIMEkenbone). Yes, Boneheads, Ken Bone does sometimes remove [his cozy fall layer](http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=93xLBvPhAeE&subid=0&offerid=461347.1&type=10&tmpid=1701&RD%5FPARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jcpenney.com%2Fizod-durham-sweater%2Fprod.jump%3F&RD%5FPARM2=ppId%3Dppr5007133448&u1=TIMEkenbone). Evidence via Twitter, below. > [](https://twitter.com/kenbone18/status/785881108206452736) As Bone asked: do we forgive him? We say: as his popularity continues to heat up, let’s give him the chance to cool off and strip down to his classic white button-down from time to time. ## Transcript What steps will your energy policy take to meet our energy needs, while at the same time reminding environmentally friendly and minimizing job loss for fossil power plant workers. Mr. Trump, two minutes. 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