Map daddy Steve Kornacki
The Today Show called him a “chartthrob” but you know that's not what we're calling him
If you watched election night on MSNBC you got a front row seat to the chaotic good that was Steve Kornacki’s election week electoral map coverage. If you didn’t you probably still saw a lot of talk, swooning and content about him on Twitter and TikTok.
Looking at Google Trends for Steve Kornacki, every time there has been an important election in the last few years, he has captured America’s attention with his frantic dedication to delivering the news and explaining the votes as they come in. Yet for all past elections, Kornacki got just one night to shine as most elections were called by the end of the day. That was not the case this time around.
Kornacki was on the air every day from Election Day on Tuesday to after the presidency finally got called on Saturday, working more hours than most people could. Still, he reported the news with unbridled energy and won the hearts of (left-leaning) America. As we all spent hours looking at a map that rarely changed, Kornacki and his signature khakis were there to tell us just how little things had changed since a few minutes ago.
Straight off the bat on Election Day, as votes began to be counted and Kornacki posted up in front of his map, the Kornacki content began to roll out. Kornacki himself knew what he was getting into and made it clear he was going to go on as long as possible.
this was just a taste of what was to come
It really wasn’t until the second day that the content really began to shine. It moved away from an admiration for the man and enjoyment of his craft and into a realm of hero-worship that let people project whatever qualities they wanted onto the khakied man. By the end of the night, he had at least two fancams (that I could find)
Wednesday was also the day I learned Kornacki was gay through a high school friend’s Instagram story. She’d been sharing worshipful posts about Kornacki that felt less and less like hyperbole with every post. The last one she shared just said something along the lines of “my mom just told me Kornacki is gay and now I’m depressed.” And I kind of believe that she actually was depressed because she stopped posting about him after that. There were a few similar posts from disappointed women finding this out, but for most people Kornacki’s charm wasn’t based on an attraction to the man but to the fact that he was outright delightful to watch as he tried to decipher the returns for us.
I’m not 100 percent sure this ^ is about Kornacki but I’m like 90 percent sure it is. If so, then I’m also going to assume this is the pivotal point when Kornacki began to take on the moniker of map daddy.
By the third day we all knew Kornacki was running on fumes but that, like a menorah, the fumes could last for over a week if we had faith.
At this point, there was no shame or restraint about what people were saying about Kornacki anymore. He was a sexual icon, an ideal worth dying for, a man whose only limits were now imposed by labor laws.
He’d become such a draw to MSNBC that I’m sure inside 30 Rock some executives were tracking how much traffic the channel was getting and noticing how it went up every time Kornacki came on. I know in my heart this is true because otherwise why would they have set up a “Kornacki cam” that ran during commercials that showed nothing but his ass for 3 minutes?
And every time Kornacki took a break, people noticed. Even his replacement had to be like, ‘I do not want to do this. I’m only doing this so the guy you actually want to watch can get some rest.’ But after a few hours, Kornacki would dependably make his way back in front of his board and continue telling us that there was nothing new to report.
As people waited and waited for the results, some began to think about Kornacki’s legacy and how he had upended political journalism. If anything can be said about Kornacki, it’s that he made cable news bearable, and that’s saying a lot.
By the end of Friday, Kornacki was still going on air and though just about nothing significant came in on this day, people were still watching Kornacki go. He would extrapolate data, talk about the odds, literally do anything to fill time and keep the fans happy. I normally hate cable news because it runs on a model that requires anchors to continuously report non-news just to fill time but Kornacki at least was pleasant to watch.
Chrissy Teigen did.
By the last day, after results from Pennsylvania came in and news organizations declared Biden the winner, Kornacki was finally able to rest after America had hung on his every word for an entire week.
Saturday's news programming was overtaken by scenes of celebration across US cities and while Kornacki came back to the board throughout the day, the vibe was more mellow. He had done his job and the hype had passed. He got the praise he deserved and America moved on to grapple with the coming end of the Trump administration and the incoming battles that await.
Kornacki is in no way going away. Every time there’s an election he’ll come back, ready to report results to us. In a cable news world filled with mundane talking heads and bland anchors, it’s probably not that hard to stand out but Kornacki did it without gimmicks. He kind of just did his job with high energy, good vibes and infallible accuracy (probably, who the fuck is taking the time to check his math).
If you’re sad to see Kornacki go, rest assured that you won’t be waiting for too long. Both Georgia Senate races have gone to run-off elections that will be settled on January 5th so stay tuned for Kornacki’s encore.
