Trump country braces for election day
IN WEST PALM BEACH – Voters, police and law enforcement agencies are bracing for chaos in West Palm Beach with Trump supporters warning “people are going to be losing their minds” if the result does not go in favour of the Republican candidate.
Donald Trump’s campaign will hold a watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Centre on Tuesday night, just down the road from his Mar-a-Lago home.
The Republican candidate is expected to attend after voting in the city earlier in the day.
West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James said he was “keenly aware that the eyes of the world will be focused on West Palm Beach and his police force was “ready, willing able to perform the mission”.
“We have co-ordinated our efforts with the Sheriff’s Office, Secret Service and Homeland Security to ensure the safety of all of our residents and businesses.
“We want to let everyone know that if you are thinking about or planning on coming to our great city to cause problems, don’t do it. It won’t end well for you”.
Sheriff Rick Bradshaw said protesters and supporters would have to stay in designated areas with no mingling.
“Everybody’s not going to be happy with what’s going to happen. Somebody’s going to be happy because it’s a win, somebody’s going to be happy because it’s a loss. Either way we’re not going to let this get out of hand if people are upset,” he said.
Mobile jails would also be used. “At the slightest inclination that things are getting ready to heat up and get out of hand, we’re going to stop it real early and you’ll come spend the night with me,” he said.
On Monday the upscale area was calm, with children playing in water fountains and people dining at outdoor restaurants in balmy weather. However locals said they were bracing for drama, with 53-year-old Jody Brown saying she expected things to “pop off”.
“People are going to be losing their shit. We’ve just lost a white president and we’re going to get a black woman? People are going to be losing their mind.”
The Trump supporter, who works as a private driver, said she wished she could blend traits from both parties to make a more suitable candidate, and she was embarrassed by the situation. But on one point she was emphatic: she would not vote for Kamala Harris.
“[She is] by far the devil, worse than Hillary Clinton,” she said, adding that the Democratic candidate would not be taken seriously by world leaders and military generals.
“This isn’t a prom queen. This isn’t a class president,” she said, after noting the torrent of celebrity endorsements Harris has received in recent weeks. “She’s not really respected. There are so many people that are losing their minds at the thought of her being president.”
On the issue of Labour Party volunteers campaigning for Democrats, she said people from the UK should “get out, mind your business”.
”You can’t vote. Don’t come over here and tell us how to vote. If you want to come here and watch it, great. But don’t knock on doors and tell us how to vote.”
As for Trump, she summed up her feelings towards the Republican candidate by saying: “I love you, but I’m having a hard time liking you.”
“I like him as a politician and I like him as a businessman [but] if he could just not talk,” she suggested. “Just be an adult. If he didn’t have such a big ego he would have a bigger following.”
Derek Howard, from Boston, Massachusetts, was on holiday in Florida after having voted already at home for Harris.
“I believe in what she stands for. I’m a middle-class guy. I work in a prison. Trump is more for the rich,” he told i.
The 53-year-old correctional officer said he was in favour of a woman’s right to abortion, legalising marijuana and not sending illegal immigrants back home, and wanted to see “change”.
“I want to see a woman president. Not only a woman, someone of colour, someone mixed race. Yes, I want to see that,” he said.
Kellen Rodriguez, 56, who works as a lawyer and election inspector in Pennsylvania – the most high-profile swing state – was in Palm Beach for a wellness festival hosted at the same venue where Trump will address his supporters on Tuesday.
She predicted “it’s going to get messy” as “people will be frustrated” after the vote. She told i she was supporting Trump because of his endorsement by Robert F Kennedy, one of the most high-profile vaccine conspiracy theorists in the US.
Kennedy has said Trump promised to give him “control” of several public health agencies including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture if he wins the election. On Monday, Trump said he would talk to him about it and he was a “very talented guy”.
Rodriguez said she could not vote for Harris as she is “just a face” for a cabal of hidden people pulling the strings. When asked who exactly she meant by this, she said it was unclear but could include George Soros – who is frequently at the heart of a claims about a left-wing conspiracy to run the world.
“They is [sic] probably a larger, broader group who probably hold money and pull strings worldwide,” she said.
Polls show the election on a knife-edge with the two candidates virtually tied in critical swing states. The close nature of the vote means delays in the counts are expected, feeding fears that confusion could lead to claims from Trump he has won.
“It’s going to take some time to process ballots. So there’s a lot of concern about those several days that follow the election … about security, but also just about the ramped up rhetoric that we all expect,” said Representative Dan Kildee, a Democrat from Michigan, this week.
Trump supporters spoken to by i said they would not be responsible for violence, pointing at the far left as the most likely source.
President of Young Republicans in Miami, Tony Figueroa, said ahead of election day he is hoping the result restores a sense of “social cohesion” to the country so there can be more “knowing what to expect” on certain issues like foreign policy and the economy.
He hopes Trump supporters “don’t get complacent” and his team wants to extend their lead in Florida, making the state a blueprint for future Republican campaigns.
The once high-profile swing state has been trending red since 2016.
“In the end there needs to be that common denominator. If there is that division it doesn’t solve a whole lot.”
