Ken Bone: 2016 viral debate star reveals who he voted for this year

Kenneth Bone, the man who was dubbed the “hero” of the second 2016 presidential debate, has revealed who he voted for in this year's election, sparking criticism from social media users.

His distinctive moustache and sweater along with his friendly manner caused Mr Bone’s appearance in the Hillary Clinton versus Donald Trump debate to go viral drawing him national acclaim from the American public.

Following the newfound fame, Mr Bone would not reveal which candidate he eventually chose during the 2016 election. However, this year he has taken to social media to proudly announce his chosen candidate, revealing who he voted for in 2016 in the process.

“I voted Clinton in '16 and this morning I sealed my mail-in ballot having voted for Jo Jorgensen,” he said in a tweet on Wednesday, expressing his support for the Libertarian Party's nominee for president.

“I don't agree with either of them 100 per cent but felt they were the best options available to me at the time,” he concluded.

Mr Bone became famous after asking a relatively uncontroversial question about energy policy during the debate between Ms Clinton and Mr Trump.

“What steps will your energy policy take to meet our energy needs while at the same time remaining environmentally friendly and minimising job loss for fossil power plant workers?”, asked Mr Bone at the time.

The moment went viral following the debate, but social media users seem less impressed with his latest announcement not to vote for one of the two major political US parties on the 2020 ticket.

“So in other words, you threw away your vote and inadvertently voted for Trump. Cool story, Ken,” one user tweeted.

“I live in Illinois. If it goes red I will sign the deed to my house over to you. Keep voter shaming though, it's great for democracy,” Mr Bone said in response.

Another critic wrote: “biipartisan state = two choices. If you don't pick either, you may as well just vote for the one you dislike more because that's what you're doing. Glad u feel good about yourself tho.”

“You do realize this is WHY we have a broken 2 party system, right?,” Mr Bone hit back.

The criticism echoes beliefs of certain environmentalists who urged people to back Joe Biden, saying that a “protest vote” for a third party could allow Mr Trump to be re-elected.

More than 170 leading environmentalists signed the open letter outlining why they believe “this is the worst possible year for a protest vote”.

“Only by rallying behind the Democratic Party can we end the Trump administration’s unprecedented malignancy, fear mongering, pathological lying, and atrocious policymaking. This is not the year to make a utopian statement or to waste a single vote," the letter said.

Other users supported Mr Bone’s decision to choose a third party candidate: “I don't believe in libertarianism but a vote is your choice to make and that's what democracy's about,” one said.

Mr Bone, who has now amassed over 166,000 followers on Twitter, intermittently engages with politics on the platform and most recently provided his own live commentary on this year's first presidential debate.