CNN’s John King wants to return to Ireland to “go back to his roots”

CNN NEWS host John King, who was at the center of the network’s coverage of the US elections, wants to return to Ireland as a tourist to visit his family and retrace his roots.

Speaking with Miriam on RTÉ Radio One on Sunday, King said he is eager to come to Ireland to visit relatives and trace their family history when Covid-19 has been alleviated.

King, CNN’s chief national correspondent, was the face of much of the network’s coverage of the recent elections.

He attracted positive attention from CNN viewers, including viewers in Ireland who picked up on his Irish roots.

King told O’Callaghan on the radio today that he would “like to come [to Ireland] and I would tell the bartender right now that it better be more than one pint. “

“I have been to Ireland several times, but always for work. I covered the White House for a long time, so I was there with President Clinton and President Bush, but I have never been there alone as a visitor or tourist or as an Irish American to retrace my roots, and that is my fault. “King said .

One of the great seeds sown in me from this choice and interest in Ireland is making sure I get there not just once, but start the journey early.

“My mission outside of this election is, I keep saying [cousin Jacqueline Kenny]I’ll go visit them as soon as I can and learn more about this. “

King said he believed Joe Biden’s win over incumbent Donald Trump would be a positive for Ireland.

He said Trump has “little interest in anything outside the shores of the United States” unless it is in his interest.

“Joe Biden loves to highlight his Irish roots. And so, of all the countries in the world that might think, ‘We will get more attention’ or our phone calls will be returned ‘or that’ Team Biden will pay attention to us’, I think Ireland can be very happy, ”King said.

CNN is among the US media that called for the election of Joe Biden on Saturday, November 7.

As the votes were counted after Election Day on November 3, CNN called the races in each state as enough votes arrived to project a winner.

King said that for this particular election, the CNN team was especially cautious in asking for a result.

I think there is a great theater in a closed election, why would you want to finish a play in the middle? “

“We are very cautious. We project states when we have enough data to tell us, although there are still votes to be counted, statistical probabilities and the like, but we are much more cautious, “King said.

“In this election, because of how everything was so unusual and how different states were doing it in different ways, we established a rule that we are going to use caution as a standard, we are going to have very clear standards and metrics on how we make decisions, and We will not change those rules, ”he said.

“It was obvious to us on Friday that Biden was going to win, but we had to wait until more votes came in on Saturday to make the call because we had these rules in place, we had tested them for months, and you can ‘Don’t double them, it’s just not well “.

King, whose Irish roots are in Galway, impressed viewers of CNN’s coverage with his knowledge of regional and local politics in the United States.

“I’ve been to all 50 states many times and I’ve been to some of them 20 or 30 times … And a lot of those counties that we know are the key counties that decide the elections, I’ve spent time there, year after year,” King said.

“Because those are the places I visit when I can go out to America … Where my hands go on the map is where I have lived my life, so to speak.”