If you’ve been wondering where NBC News’ election math guru has been all your life… well, he’s been on MSNBC since 2013, first as co-host of the bipartisan panel show The Cycle and then as a host who bounced around to fill empty anchor chairs when need be until he largely gave that (and, by all accounts, sleep) up to switch his focus to reporting and writing.
And in case you didn’t notice as election night turned into election week, his specialty is…elections! His 2018 book The Red and the Blue: The 1990s and the Birth of Political Tribalism further explains why the electoral map is color-coded the way it is and looks the way it does, and for the past week he’s been putting his expertise to the test, becoming an Internet folk hero in the process.
“Heading up to the studio and not leaving until we’ve got a result. Our live coverage starts at 6—hope you’ll come along for the ride!” Kornacki merrily tweeted on Nov. 3. Two days later, at 11:48 p.m. ET, he wrote, “Forget grabbing sleep, there’s still votes coming in in PA. I’m heading back to the studio. In the old days, there was USA Up All Night. Tonight, it’ll be MSNBC Up All Night. Come on along for the ride.”
Every time we looked up, there he was. True story.
On Friday, MSNBC colleague Willie Geist tweeted an anecdote: “Me: ‘Let’s get Steve a chair.’ @SteveKornacki: ‘If I sit down, I’ll fall asleep.’ Kornacki remains at his post, awaiting results from Pennsylvania.”