Did you know that, as of this writing, Election Day 2020 only happened four days ago? It’s probably felt far longer than that. One reason is many people have done almost nothing but stare at maps and charts, carefully monitoring painfully slow vote counts in obscure counties from states like Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona. That’s come at the cost of doing non-election-monitoring activities, like going outside, showering, and, of course, sleeping. In fact, one of news media’s most prominent figures has barely slept since Tuesday.
That person is George Stephanopoulos, onetime Senior Adviser to then-President Bill Clinton and current chief anchor at ABC News. Like many in the media, Stephanopoulos has had to stay on air for all many of hours, for days on end, endlessly providing an anxious nation variations on the words “It’s too close to call.” At some point he, or one of his colleagues, will get to call the race, which has seen a record number of absentee and provisional ballots, a great number of which have still yet to be counted in certain states.
On Friday Stephanopoulos took some time to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where he admitted he’s kind of tired. When Kimmel asked how many hours he’s slept since Tuesday’s big day, he replied that he’d estimate it’s only 14. “It’s kind of broadcasting under the influence, isn’t it?” he joked, his voice gravelly from lack of rest. That’s a little over three hours of sleep per night on average. But it’s all for a good cause.
“We’re ready. We’re waiting for something to happen here. We’ve been waiting all day, we’ve been waiting all week. We’re close,” Stephanopoulos said about working long hours, making sure they don’t call the race until all or at least almost all votes have been counted. So if you, too, have forfeited sleep over the last four days, hoping any second that America would officially have a president-elect, then consider this: At least you don’t have to wait while being on television.
You can watch Stephanopoulos’ full chat with Kimmel in the video above.
(Via THR)