--- description: Off-duty John King in the background becomes a hilarious 2018 midterm election meme. title: People Are Obsessed With Off-Duty John King on CNN's Midterm Elections Coverage image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6692153dc3c20798/69893e7222fb85a00fe27161/john-king-election-cnn.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # People Are Obsessed With Off-Duty John King on CNN's Midterm Elections Coverage by [Ashley Hoffman](/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 7, 2018 5:12 AM CUT  CNN correspondent John King talks to the audience before moderating a debate between Republican presidential candidates on February 22, 2012 in Mesa, Arizona. On Nov. 6, 2018 the CNN correspondent John King was seen walking around aimlessly around the CNN studio during the midterm election. CNN correspondent John King talks to the audience before moderating a debate between Republican presidential candidates on February 22, 2012 in Mesa, Arizona. On Nov. 6, 2018 the CNN correspondent John King was seen walking around aimlessly around the CNN studio during the midterm election.Ethan Miller—Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 7, 2018 5:12 AM CUT Of all the talking points that popped online during [Election night](http://time.com/5446274/midterm-election-results/ "undefined"), CNN’s chief national correspondent John King was a lighthearted one. King was one of many news correspondents who stuck it out all night to serve up the 2018 midterm election results to the public. And as Jake Tapper and Wolf Blitzer talked politics at a desk, King took a beat on his cell. That’s when viewers captured snapshots of the news anchor in the background of a shot, interacting with the election map and his phone. It appeared that CNN did not necessarily intend to film King at this precise moment. But whatever the reason we saw the map man in the background, the internet was positively gleeful to [turn the moment into a hilarious catch-all meme](http://time.com/4756946/best-memes-2017-so-far/ "undefined"). The transition of power can be stressful no matter who anyone voted for, but thank goodness for “off-duty” John King. See some John King tweets below. > [](https://twitter.com/mollielieff/status/1060005549117505537) > [](https://twitter.com/BUTerrier2003/status/1060020342280863750) > [](https://twitter.com/ChrisLangdonNL/status/1060007400835608577) > [](https://twitter.com/jimmaiella/status/1059979707884752896) > [](https://twitter.com/John%5FHudson/status/1060006796599943168) > [](https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/1059972065506353153) > [](https://twitter.com/BryanDFischer/status/1059993561284804608) > [](https://twitter.com/Eisentweet/status/1059994145085779968) > [](https://twitter.com/shannonb%5Frandom/status/1060011876673716225) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5447223/john-king-memes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5447223/john-king-memes/"},"headline":"People Are Obsessed With Off-Duty John King on CNN's Midterm Elections Coverage","datePublished":"2018-11-07T05:12:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:55:52.394Z","description":"Off-duty John King in the background becomes a hilarious 2018 midterm election meme.","url":"https://time.com/5447223/john-king-memes/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6692153dc3c20798/69893e7222fb85a00fe27161/john-king-election-cnn.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6692153dc3c20798/69893e7222fb85a00fe27161/john-king-election-cnn.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"john-king-election-cnn","caption":"CNN And Arizona GOP Host Presidential Debate","creditText":"Ethan Miller—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5447223/john-king-memes/","name":"People Are Obsessed With Off-Duty John King on CNN's Midterm Elections Coverage"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Democrats Just Won the House. 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