Plenty of eyes may have been on the polling numbers as votes started to be counted Tuesday night, but the eyes of plenty of social media users were also watching CNN‘s, John King. Acting as CNN’s chief national correspondent, King wowed the Twitter crowd throughout Tuesday, and into the early hours of Wednesday, with his non-stop coverage of the election.
While many Americans spent the evening stress eating and doomscrolling, King seemed more than prepared to tackle the election, dubbed by many as the most important election in their lifetime. Throughout the evening, King was seen handling the network’s “magic wall,” an impressive touchscreen map of the presidential election results, and providing fast-talking updates on the race’s status. He was so in the groove that he even proclaimed on multiple occasions how much “fun” he was having, something that many Americans likely couldn’t relate to.
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King’s Election Night quickly became a social media talking point as the night wore on and weary voters grew even more impatient to learn the results, which likely will not be known for several more days. Keep scrolling to see what people are saying about King and his magic wall.
John King is seriously good at his job. #USAElections2020
— James Melville (@JamesMelville) November 3, 2020
#ElectionNight@CNN pic.twitter.com/IuMbMwRdsQ
Dat boy John King been on his feet since 7p. No chair, no Gatorade, no arch support. CNN cold blooded. Get that man a stool or one of them rolling office chairs. pic.twitter.com/XGJPcS8Ygi
— Roy Wood Jr- Ex Jedi (@roywoodjr) November 4, 2020
During his Election night coverage, Twitter users picked up on King using the phrase “this is fun” multiple times. He uttered the words when breaking down the votes coming from both Ohio and Florida, key battleground states.
john king: this is fun
— Ryan Disdier (@ryandisdier) November 4, 2020
us at home: pic.twitter.com/Ppu1eGvwfq
John King when they finally go to commercial pic.twitter.com/HcWMr0S0pm
— Wob (@WobBurner) November 4, 2020
King also showed his shock at several states initially running blue as the first ballots began being counted. At one point, he told Democrats to “take a picture” as he discussed the tallies being reported from battleground states such as Florida, Georgia, and Texas, which were blue at the beginning of the night.
john king pic.twitter.com/FagWZqVNCu
— aahna! (@aahna_rathod) November 4, 2020
Me at 12:16 AM watching John King breakdown the percentage of votes reported in Montgomery County Pennsylvania compared to the number of uncounted mail in ballots for the 20th time tonight pic.twitter.com/iPwTgQ4sud
— Nate Witherell (@nwitherell) November 4, 2020
According to Vulture, at one point in the night King even likened the results to baseball for sports fans. Discussing the counts in states like Pennsylvania, he said, “If this is a baseball game, this is the second or third inning.”
Whatever happens, god bless John King
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) November 4, 2020
John King at 2am on CNN’s projection board describing 26 different scenarios for what happens in Pennsylvania pic.twitter.com/kHEqsmEYrj
— Zan Johnson (@zanjohnson2) November 4, 2020
Throughout the night, King also cautioned on several occasions that viewers should not put too much faith in what the early results were showing. He warned viewers that “maps can be deceptive” before launching into a discussion about early- and mail-ballot results, with some of these results not expected to be reported until later this week. He cautioned viewers, “just be careful.”
Find someone who loves his job as much as John King.
— Richard Chambers (@newschambers) November 4, 2020
I don’t know what John King makes a year but I’m pretty sure he’s underpaid.
— Sid Seixeiro (@Sid_Seixeiro) November 4, 2020
In a statement to Variety ahead of Election Day, Sam Feist, CNN’s Washington Bureau chief, explained that the network wanted to make sure viewers understood where the vote is heading and why. “An important message for our audience, and we will repeat it all night, is that just because it’s taking longer to project the winner in these elections doesn’t mean that anything is wrong,” Feist said.
There are 3,141 counties in the United States and apparently John King can name every one of them.
— David Juurlink (@DavidJuurlink) November 4, 2020
Find someone who looks at you the way John King looks at the Magic Wall.
— Jonathan Torrens (@TorrensJonathan) November 4, 2020
Later in the evening, King admitted that the coverage was getting a “bit redundant,” stating, “For people at home who have been watching all night long, this is getting a bit redundant.” He went on to remind viewers that “we have votes to count.”
Regardless of your political affiliation, one thing we can agree on is John King isn’t a man, he’s a damn machine.
— Brad Evans (@NoisyHuevos) November 4, 2020
His memory bank and mastery of the touchscreen is remarkable.
John King at the Magic Wall going through every county in the United States at warp speed: pic.twitter.com/bKvLo1CcYk
— E (@EvanBelfer) November 4, 2020
At this time, a clear victor is not expected to be known until later this week. Several key battleground states, including Pennsylvania, are not expected to finish counting mail-in battles until as late as Friday.