Steve Kornacki has become something of a legendary figure during the 2020 presidential election, working virtually nonstop on MSNBC as the final votes trickle in among a number of the most critical states. But is he married? Does he have a husband?
No, Kornacki isn’t married. What’s more, he is not married to David Mack, an editor at BuzzFeed who made a joke about being married to Kornacki — a joke that many people apparently believed. On Wednesday night, Mack tweeted, “when will my husband, steve kornacki, return from war.”
Mack made another joke on Twitter about reading tweets of support to Kornacki in bed every night.
In fact, Mack already has a partner named Michael Bauer. He frequently shares photos of them on his Instagram.
Here’s what you need to know:
Kornacki Is Not Married; He Doesn’t Have a Public Relationship
The @SteveKornacki thirst has begun
Kornacki is not married and is not dating anyone publicly. His Instagram is rarely used, and most of his feed is populated with photographs of nature and of family events.
In November 2011, Kornacki wrote an article for Salon about the experience of publicly coming out as a gay man. He shared the complicated story of his first sexual experience with another man, writing, “I’m still too Catholic to add much more here, but suffice it to say: It was quick, I didn’t do much, and I felt dirty, degraded and embarrassed the whole time.”
Kornacki also wrote about eventually finding a more serious relationship with a man named Dan. He wrote, “The permanence of saying yes to Dan paralyzed me. The minute I told someone, anyone, there’d be no taking it back. His persistence also provided a perverse subconscious incentive that I only now recognize: As long as he was interested in me, I didn’t feel any pressure to face my fears — not when he’d just keep calling me anyway.”
Kornacki and his boyfriend Dan broke up, he confirmed in the 2011 story. He has not had a public relationship since.
Kornacki Has Become the Unexpected Star of the Presidential Election
I’ve been watching calm cool John King and the magic board the whole time and did not realize all the wonderful chaos I was missing with Steve Kornacki. 😂
Kornacki’s private life might not be up for grabs, but that won’t stop people from trying to get as much information about the MSNBC correspondent as possible. Over the past few days, Kornacki has gained a cult following, in part due to his expert handling of vote analysis, and in part due to his sheer omnipresence, leading many to wonder if he’s slept since Election Night.
Kornacki’s colleagues cleared the record on Wednesday afternoon. Ali Velshi, another MSNBC correspondent who also does voting analysis for MSNBC, told a news anchor on Wednesday afternoon, “We have removed him forcibly from the building. He’s in a room with pillow, blankets and warm milk.”
Kornacki has since returned and done several more extended stints on air. Following his first brief respite on Wednesday afternoon, he took to Twitter to acknowledge his sudden shot to fame. In a video posted to Twitter, he said, “I saw after I finally left the studio all these incredibly kind and friendly and nice messages everybody had on social media.”
A message from @SteveKornacki. #TrackingKornacki
Now, MSNBC is letting viewers gain a bit of access into Kornacki’s off-air life. The news network has deployed a #TrackingKornacki hashtag to keep people up to date on what he’s doing, and also offers a “Kornacki Cam,” so viewers can watch Kornacki check his phone during commercial breaks.