(AFP) – Jubilant supporters greeted Donald Trump at an event in Florida early Wednesday as he claimed victory in the US presidential vote, reveling in their apparent win even as most major news networks held off on calling the race. Throwing his arms in the air and dancing, Ted Sarvanis, 68, told AFP he felt “extraordinary.” “This is the greatest American political story in the history of the country,” he said. Sarvanis was speaking near the stage where Trump had just claimed his win in a speech — though Fox News was the only television network projecting the result of Tuesday’s vote at the time.
Joined by vice presidential pick J.D. Vance, Trump, poised for a stunning return to the White House, declared a “political victory that our country has never seen before.” It was a far cry from an event for Kamala Harris at Howard University, where supporters of the Democrat trudged home in the dark Washington night after the campaign announced the vice president would not be speaking on election night. “I am scared, I am anxious now,” Charlyn Anderson told AFP earlier in the evening. “We won’t give up until it’s done but I’m scared.”
As the night wore on, Trump’s numbers in the all-important electoral college grew, with three of the seven key battleground states called in his favor, taking him to the brink of victory. At the Trump event, men donning formal suits and women in dresses mingled at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, where they rubbed shoulders with one die-hard Trump fan sporting their political hero’s name emblazoned on a leather vest. Whether dressed in formal attire or more casual wear, many of the attendees wore Trump’s signature red “Make America Great Again” baseball caps. “I feel relieved. I was a little bit scared, because you never know how things are going to turn out,” said Stacy Kurtz, 45.
In battleground Pennsylvania, however, the mood at a Democratic watch party turned despondent. “I’m just pissed off,” said Lynn Johnson, 65, as he watched cable news channels. “It’s going to be dangerous if he wins. I don’t feel safe.” In Atlanta, what started as a raucous watch party at the Hyatt Regency, with balloons and beer, sobered up around midnight. Organizers switched off TV screens and asked people to exit the ballroom.
In Washington, Howard University, Harris’s alma mater and where she had been set to spend election night, was left strewn with empty fencing as crowds cleared out. If the scenes at the Trump and Harris rallies seemed worlds apart, so did the attendees. “He’s a terrible candidate, so it just doesn’t make sense,” said Harris supporter Ken Brown. “I don’t know who’s voting for him.”
burs/nro/aha – Gerard MARTINEZ with Marion THIBAUT in Washington
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