--- 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: 2026-04-13T07:37:31.618Z 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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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.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 11, 2016 5:13 PM UTC  (FILES) In this file photo dated October 9, 2016 Ken Bone (C) listens to US Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump during the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. As the mud flew at Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton's second presidential debate Sunday, the American everyman became an instant celebrity by calmly asking a question about energy policy. Bone -- even his sturdy name has been a source of amusement on social media -- had been picked to represent undecided voters at the town hall-style debate in St Louis, Missouri. His heft, poise and polite manner offered a brief but refreshing respite from the 90-minute slug-fest between the Republican and Democratic candidates. / AFP / POOL / Paul J. Richards / TO GO WITH AFP STORY "Ken Bone, everyman hero in a tawdry US campaign" (Photo credit should read PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images) (FILES) In this file photo dated October 9, 2016 Ken Bone (C) listens to US Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump during the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. As the mud flew at Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton's second presidential debate Sunday, the American everyman became an instant celebrity by calmly asking a question about energy policy. Bone -- even his sturdy name has been a source of amusement on social media -- had been picked to represent undecided voters at the town hall-style debate in St Louis, Missouri. His heft, poise and polite manner offered a brief but refreshing respite from the 90-minute slug-fest between the Republican and Democratic candidates. / AFP / POOL / Paul J. Richards / TO GO WITH AFP STORY "Ken Bone, everyman hero in a tawdry US campaign" (Photo credit should read PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)PAUL J. RICHARDS—AFP/Getty Images  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. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4526847/ken-bone-sweater/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4526847/ken-bone-sweater/"},"headline":"Ken Bone Issues Public Apology for Briefly Removing Red Sweater","datePublished":"2016-10-11T17:13:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:37:31.618Z","description":"Do we forgive him?","url":"https://time.com/4526847/ken-bone-sweater/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06745fef2a81d5d1/6988a988656a3ff5cfbcd698/ken-bone-red-sweater.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06745fef2a81d5d1/6988a988656a3ff5cfbcd698/ken-bone-red-sweater.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-VOTE-PEOPLE-BONE","caption":"US-VOTE-PEOPLE-BONE","creditText":"PAUL J. 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