US election results: Tense mood at Clinton camp as key states swing to Trump
UPDATE: IT was supposed to be the party they’d never forget. But election night soon turned into a nightmare for Hillary Clinton’s supporters.
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IT was supposed to be the party they’d never forget.
Thousands of Hillary Clinton fans gathered in New York to celebrate what they thought would be the coronation of America’s first female President.
The official election night event was held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Centre, its famed glass ceiling a not-too-subtle reminder of the history Ms Clinton hoped to create.
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Indeed, hope was the buzzword among the crowd. Supporters young and old, who queued for hours to get in, said they were cautiously optimistic about her winning the White House.
Brian Harrison, a politics lecturer who travelled from Illinois, witnessed the “electric moment” Barack Obama became President in 2008 and said he wanted to see something similarly historic unfold for Ms Clinton.
“I’m a little anxious but hopeful. I just want to see some numbers,” he said as voting closed.
Half an hour later, the numbers started to roll in, prompting raucous cheers as Ms Clinton claimed sure-thing Democratic states.
Katy Perry’s anthem “Roar” blared over the loudspeakers and supporters started waving American flags.
Then Florida’s results began to arrive. The anti-Trump boos became quieter and quieter as the Republican’s remarkable momentum became clear.
“Why does Florida always screw things up?” one Clinton supporter yelled.
“Maybe we should just give them their own President.”
By midnight, as Mr Trump smashed through Ms Clinton’s “blue wall” of key states, supporters were heading for the exits.
Over in Times Square, hundreds of people stared spellbound at big screens showing the results.
Ms Clinton had easily won New York, her home state, but there was barely a Hillary T-shirt, badge or flag in sight.
Earlier in the day, it was a different scene at polling booths across the city, with seemingly no one believing Ms Clinton could lose.
Marc Rodriguez said Mr Trump was “a horrible person” and he was “scared” of his rhetoric.
“I saw Africa making fun of us. When Congo is making fun of you, you know you’re in trouble,” the 33-year-old New Yorker said.
“I hope we can prove to the world that we can make intelligent decisions.”
Doris Southbridge, 72, said she was surprised Trump made it to the precipice of the world’s most powerful job.
“But I really shouldn’t be,” she said.
“We’re on the east coast and there’s all those states in the middle which haven’t changed in hundreds of years.”
At a booth in Midtown, retiree George Trujilo was one of the few voters to back Trump because “he gives the political establishment the middle finger”.
It was a message heard the world over by the end of the night.
NYC's Trump supporters losing their minds right now outside his campaign event. #draintheswamp #ElectionNight @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/CdtwssBqkg
— Tom Minear (@tminear) November 9, 2016
Originally published as US election results: Tense mood at Clinton camp as key states swing to Trump
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