People across Canada and around the world gathered Tuesday in front of television and computer screens as the season finale of the ultimate political reality TV show turned up a stunning plot twist: Donald Trump headed for the White House.
For hours, they held their collective breaths as the tallies from the nail−biting race came in, with Democrat Hillary Clinton winning some states, while her bitter Republican rival steadily edged toward an unassailable lead.
"I’m completely devastated right now. I feel like I’m in a nightmare right now. I’m not going to lie. It’s very surreal," Dr. Archana Raman, 33, a surgeon from New Jersey said at an event in Calgary attended by hundreds.
"For me it’s sort of terrifying. It’s terrifying that the U.S. somehow believes that he’s going to do something good for people and for the world."
In Halifax, at a north−end pub where live results were projected on big screens inside and outside, Laura Neals said she wanted to get together with friends to take in an evening she called "historic."
Neals said she had been especially excited at the possibility Clinton could become the first female president in the U.S., which would become the 60th country — including Canada — to have had a woman in charge.
"It’s a moment that is important for America but I think it’s important for every woman in the world," Neals, 29, said as she sipped on a beer before the final results were known.
"It feels like a new frontier and I’m excited to see it in real life, in real time."
At a pub in downtown Montreal, where Nasty Woman and Bad Hombre shots were on special, Kaylie Mitchell was dressed in red and supporting Trump while her friend, Brandy Przepiora, wore a blue "Hillary" label. Both said the politics wouldn’t affect their friendship as the race headed to the wire.
One Toronto hotel, which dubbed the election campaign "braggattrocious," was already packed as the first polling stations south of the border closed and a large television set screened the incoming numbers.
On hand was Elizabeth Littlejohn, a communications and new media professor, who had two sets of Kleenex with her:
"This little one is for if Hillary wins, and this big one is for if Trump wins," Littlejohn said.
Nearby, another crammed hotel pub selling $10−themed cocktails — Locker Room Talk and My Own Private Emails — was scrambling to accommodate everyone looking to watch.
Anne Leathers, a New Yorker in Toronto for work, said it blew her mind how many people were talking about the election in Canada.
"It’s a bit like a reality TV show for everyone outside of America," Leathers said. "I work for a British company and it’s very much like that for them."
Back at the packed bash thrown by Democrats Abroad in Calgary, Jim Davis, who moved from the U.S. to Canada for family reasons, dismissed the idea that many Americans would flee to Canada.
"Every election year there’s always this talk about folks wanting to escape if this or that person wins, but I think in the end Americans, no matter who wins, are going to stay and fight the good fight."
The mood was glum at a similar event hosted Democrats Abroad in Toronto.
"Maybe at other places they’re treating it as a hockey game," said Jacqueline Swartz. "Here we take it more seriously. It affects us more deeply and more personally."
Around the globe, many others packed various events to watch the show unfold.
Heather Bennett, 40, was among dozens of Americans and Australians at an Irish pub in Canberra, Australia, where she said the distance gave her a different view of U.S.
"In the U.S., you feel like you’re in your own little bubble," Bennett said.
In the African country of Senegal, more than 100 people posed next to life−size cutouts of the two main candidates and mingled, holding glasses of ginger, bissap and baobab juice in the gardens of the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Dakar.
"Never did we think a black man would become the head of the United States, and now, we have the same hopes for a woman," said journalist Matel Bocoum, 37.
— With files from Aly Thomson in Halifax, Nicole Thompson in Toronto, Bill Graveland in Calgary, Morgan Lowrie in Montreal and The Associated Press
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