There were nerves and prayers among supporters of Donald Trump as they filled a Florida hall for an election results watch party, where the former president was expected to give an address.
Men donning formal suits and women in dresses mingled at the Palm Beach County Convention Center event, where they rubbed shoulders with a 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 cap.
“This election is so tense and it may be the most important day in our country’s history, because this could be the day where our country ends — or where our country begins to thrive for another 100 years,” said watch party attendee Will Staten, 18.
“Anything can happen. These polls say 17,000 different things. I don’t trust them. What happens, happens — and the only thing I can do is pray.”
Behind him, giant screens showed the CNN, Fox and MSNBC cable news channels.
Those networks will compete to break the initial trickle of results that will follow the closure of polling stations across the vast expanse of the United States.
They will also broadcast significant exit polls that may indicate which candidate has the upper hand.
At the convention center, surrounded by a security perimeter for the occasion, Trump supporter Jill Cohen, 58, said she feared the Republican’s opponents would seek to cheat.
“I am afraid of the people who don’t understand what’s at stake, like peace. President Trump is the most peaceful president we’ve ever had,” she said.
“If there’s somebody who’s going to stop all the wars and the killing, it’s President Trump, because it’s certainly not the people who are in power right now.”
– ‘I don’t know’ –
Florida, located in the southeastern United States, has become a spiritual home for Trump as he has faced a litany of legal woes in his native New York.
He maintains a residence in the Republican stronghold state at Mar-a-Lago which doubles as a members’ club.
While some of those at the Palm Beach viewing party were openly nervous about the result of the election, with Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris locked in a dead heat, others were more bullish.
“Donald Trump is going to win,” said Rocco Talarico, 68, who wore a “MAGA” cap and a leather vest inscribed with the words “Born to Ride” and “Donald Trump.”
“We need that because our country right now has no borders, our crime is bad, our stock market is bad, our gas and food prices are high. Kamala (Harris) did nothing for four years.”
Mike McCormack, 50, was even more strident in his criticism of Harris as he awaited a chance to hear Trump speak amid what might be one of the most consequential US election nights in recent history.
“I don’t feel Donald Trump could be outside influenced as much, and I strongly feel that Harris is actually owned and manipulated. I have no faith in her,” he told AFP.
He also raised doubts about the integrity of the polls, something that Trump has repeatedly raised without evidence, pointing to a conspiracy by his adversaries to deny him the presidency.
“I have some confidence in this election (but) not a whole lot,” said McCormack. “There has been some funny things going on. There have been people arrested and convicted for voter fraud. So I don’t know.”
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