Most of the nation’s big TV-news anchors used the same phrase throughout Election Night: “We’re not there yet.” As things turned out, they were. TV networks came to the 2024 Election ready for a rehash of the one they covered in 2020.
Executives had 24-hour coverage sessions mapped out for the battle between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, and expected, based on polls, to have political panels at the ready through the weekend. The belief was that, like last time, swing states including Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona would need days to tabulate the results. Before midnight, however, the crystal ball became more clear.
On NBC, around 11 p.m., Lester Holt chided his colleagues for starting to speak as if the whole thing had been decided.
“This is beginning to sound like a post-mortem,” he cautioned. Soon, it would be. After 1 a.
m,, Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier told viewers it looked as if Harris “had no path” to 270 electoral votes, and then, at 1:23, the conservative outlet Newsmax had called the race for Trump, with Nexstar’s NewsNation. Fox News Channel, which had earlier called Pennsylvania for Trump, soon made things official for its larger audience. Anchors, panelists and correspondents spent most of the evening trying to convince viewers there was more drama to unfold.
Phrases like “we’re not there yet” and “there’s more to come” became oft-repeated mantras across all the outlets. CNN’s John King spent.