Undecided voter Ken Bone became an internet sensation within moments of posing a question to presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton during last week’s debate, but Bill Maher isn’t amused by the sweater-clad everyman’s newfound fame.
During Friday’s episode of his HBO talk show, the comedian took aim at anyone who still isn’t sure how they’ll vote in next month’s election — beginning with Mr. Bone.
“Somebody has to tell me why America just made this guy so famous. This is Ken Bone, one of the undecided voters who asked a question at last Sunday’s debate and since then has become a folk hero. Why? Why? Because after 15 months of this campaign he’s still too stupid to pick Hillary over President P—y-Grabber?” Mr. Maher said during Friday’s broadcast of “Real Time.”
“For me, the great sadness of this election is knowing that even if Trump doesn’t become president, we live in a country where half the people think he should be,” he continued.
Mr. Bone, a coal power-plant worker from Illinois, became famous upon asking the candidates about their plans for keeping the fossil-fuel industry alive in spite of concerns over its environmental impact. The mustachioed, seemingly mild-mannered father of one was instantly propelled into the spotlight after appearing on camera, and has garnered hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers and an apparent endorsement deal with Uber within days of his televised debate appearance.
During Friday’s episode of “Real Time,” however, Mr. Maher was the one posing questions.
“Now, I would really like to ask Mr. Ken Bone — or any undecided voter — as this last 15 months rolled along, there was no breaking point for you?” the comedian asked. “Trump saying he would kill the children of terrorists with drone strikes? Physically throwing out 12 million Mexicans? Banning all Muslims? Giving Saudi Arabia nukes? Running a scam ’university?’ Cheating veterans out of charity money? Not paying taxes? Picking Putin as his favorite leader? Not being able to let go of a feud for a whole week with a beauty queen? The impressions of the handicapped? Nothing?!”
“Florida is a climate-ravaged state full of old people and they elected as governor a climate change denier who, when he was a businessman, oversaw the largest Medicare fraud in history,” he continued. “And it’s not just Republicans. Five percent of Bernie supporters have switched allegiance to a ventriloquist dummy named Gary Johnson whose policy positions are almost uniformly the exact opposite of Bernie’s, and who, when pressed to name a foreign country, said ’Brangelina.’”
Five percent of likely voters remained undecided as of Friday, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports poll. The results of a separate survey published by Public Policy Polling on Friday suggested voters in Florida are more likely to cast ballots for Mr. Bone than Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate for president.
Depending on how undecided voters form their opinions between now and Nov. 8, Mr. Maher predicted potentially catastrophic consequences.
“Folks, blowing up the world is something that could actually happen,” he said. “If you don’t think so, you haven’t seen enough movies.”
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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