--- title: Ken Bone’s Jimmy Kimmel Interview Shows Why He's So Adorable description: Ken Bone, who became an Internet sensation after the presidential debate, continued capturing hearts in America on "Jimmy Kimmel Live." canonical: https://time.com/4526309/ken-bone-jimmy-kimmel/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-11T12:03:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:38.204Z og:title: Ken Bone’s Jimmy Kimmel Interview Shows Why the Internet Loves Him og:description: "My wife dresses me, like all great Americans" og:url: https://time.com/4526309/ken-bone-jimmy-kimmel/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ken Bone’s Jimmy Kimmel Interview Shows Why the Internet Loves Him twitter:description: "My wife dresses me, like all great Americans" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Ken Bone’s Jimmy Kimmel Interview Shows Why the Internet Loves Him ## 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 [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Oct 11, 2016 12:03 PM UTC  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Oct 11, 2016 12:03 PM UTC [Ken Bone](http://time.com/4525241/ken-bone-presidential-debate/), the man in the [red sweater](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) who instantly became an Internet sensation after asking a question at Sunday’s [presidential debate](http://time.com/4524673/second-presidential-debate-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-missed/), continued effortlessly capturing hearts in America during an [appearance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?time%5Fcontinue=359&v=rqchRR1tZvc) on _Jimmy Kimmel Live._ The St. Louis father wore the same [outfit](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) that helped him go viral—a [red sweater](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) layered above a white-collared shirt with his black-rimmed glasses and mustache. (You can still buy his red sweater [here](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).) When Kimmel asked if Bone had any idea how adorable he is, Bone replied: “That’s a definite yes.” And when the comedian told Bone his fans were starting to call themselves “boneheads,” he said: “That’s fantastic. I’ve been calling my family that for years.” Bone credited his wife of 12 years for his style. “I would love to say that I was born this way,” he said. “The short answer is that my wife dresses me, like all great Americans.” He also said he almost didn’t end up wearing the [red sweater](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) getup, which has been floated online as a Halloween costume. Bone wanted to wear his favorite olive-colored suit that his grandfather helped him pick out a few years ago, but a slight weight gain forced him to change. “I thought, ‘Wow, grandpa would be so proud if I wore this suit.’ But apparently I have gotten somewhat more fat since then, and when I got into my car, I split the seat out of my pants and destroyed my olive suit and I had to do an emergency wardrobe change.” During the debate, Bone asked Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton a question about meeting America’s energy needs while remaining environmentally friendly and minimizing job loss for fossil power plant workers. In an interview with CNN on Monday, Bone said he had been leaning toward voting for Donald Trump, who may be “more align with my economic interests.” The Missouri man has appeared to move further away from the Republican nominee, telling Kimmel that it would be “unconscionable” for him to see same-sex marriage rights be “taken away by a Supreme Court justice appointed by Donald Trump.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4526309/ken-bone-jimmy-kimmel/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4526309/ken-bone-jimmy-kimmel/"},"headline":"Ken Bone’s Jimmy Kimmel Interview Shows Why the Internet Loves Him","datePublished":"2016-10-11T12:03:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:38.204Z","description":"Fans have started calling themselves \"boneheads\"","url":"https://time.com/4526309/ken-bone-jimmy-kimmel/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4526309/ken-bone-jimmy-kimmel/","name":"Ken Bone’s Jimmy Kimmel Interview Shows Why the Internet Loves Him"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Debate Audience Member Ken Bones","description":"During the heated clash of Sunday night’s presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, an unexpected winner emerged.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/PZ66wgWb/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-10-10T19:56:20.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PZ66wgWb.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4526309/ken-bone-jimmy-kimmel/","duration":"PT13S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4526309/ken-bone-jimmy-kimmel/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```