It makes sense to share something light and fun with your readers for Thanksgiving, even if it's a little political.
In addition to CNN's Harry Enten, a political data scientist who readers will easily recognize is a political correspondent and data analyst for NBC News—mostly for what was until recently called MSNBC.
However, change is inevitable, as in any other part of life, and Steve Kornacki switched to NBC News/NBC Sports. signing a new deal in April as the network's chief data analyst since the spinoff of NBCUniversal, now MS NOW.
If you've ever seen him before, Kornacki usually looked like this:
1. Happy 46th birthday to Stefan Joseph “Steve” Kornacki Jr., political journalist, author and television host. Kornacki is a national political correspondent for NBC News. He has written for Salon, The New York Observer, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. pic.twitter.com/dsmZDrfxw7
— Howard Prince (@Howodd69) August 22, 2025
So what does this have to do with Thanksgiving? Steve Kornacki appeared on NBC this afternoon to share some numbers and statistics for coverage of the 2025 National Dog Show, a traditional Turkey Day celebration that many families watch between the Macy's parade and football. In any case, I was very pleased on Thursday when he joked ahead of the presidential election about the “popular vote.” I'll come back to this in a minute.
MSNBC on Fire – Soon to Be “MS NOW” – Unveils New “Core Principles” and We Can't Stop Laughing
One of the show's regular hosts, author and actor John O'Hurley, spoke about his “dance partner” in a promotional post on X in 2024:
National Dog Show presented by Purina from noon to 2 pm on NBC. pic.twitter.com/VHQZe12t5A
— John O'Hurley ☘️🐕☘️ (@ImJohnOHurley) November 28, 2024
As I mentioned, on Turkey Day the analyst was giving everyone the numbers for NBC Sports' cherished holiday specials starring… some very special dogs.
Just before the judges chose the winning dog (pardon the pun!), Kornacki recited some National Dog Show statistics over the years, using a large board to show which breeds are the (likely) underdogs in this annual groomed dog competition:
Elsewhere on the show, he pointed out two trends in dog names and dog breeds in every state in the United States. (My Arizona and Indiana in the Midwest somehow chose the same name!)
But this amused me the most. Near the end of the clip, Kornacki took time to joke about the popular vote; it's smart and funny and may well prove the old saying, “You can't teach an old dog new tricks.” Damn good.
Look:
You may ask, who won the Best in Show award in 2025? This cute dog:
The winner of the 2025 dog show will be
👑Belgian Shepherd!! 👑Soleil is the first of her breed to ever win Best in Show at the National Dog Show. #National Dog Show pic.twitter.com/A7MNmebsMl
— Dustin Cone (@Dustin_Cone) November 27, 2025
Happy Thanksgiving, RedState readers!
RedState isn't just your source for politics and news, we also cover culture, sports and the outdoors.
Become part of the RedState team. Join VIP RedState and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership today.
