Kamala Harris' watch party falls silent as Trump secures key swing states on election night

Vice President Kamala Harris' watch party grew noticeably "silent" during the final hour of Election Day as former president Donald Trump secured the first swing state of the evening.

Supporters gathered at Harris' alma mater, Howard University in Washington, DC, appeared increasingly downcast as votes for the Republican candidate continued to climb on large screens.

Courtesy: AFP

When campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond took the stage to inform Democrats that their presidential hopeful would not be addressing them, many supporters left, seemingly abandoning hope for the night.

A DJ had been playing loud party music while Democrats watched CNN on mute on jumbotron screens. The sound was turned up on the TVs only when Harris' victories—Washington, Hawaii, and Virginia—were announced.

The music resumed each time John King returned onscreen to report further restrictions on Harris' path. Some of her supporters were seen hugging as Trump’s win became more likely.

Similar scenes unfolded at watch parties across the US, where supporters were photographed looking increasingly discouraged, including at a "Democrats Abroad" event in London, UK.

Betting markets and The New York Times’ election needle predicted a Trump win, though Harris’ campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, maintained that a victory path remained through the “blue wall” of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

However, by midnight, Harris had lost North Carolina—a state that President Joe Biden had narrowly lost to Trump.

As supporters left the Howard University watch party, the Republican candidate was also projected to win Georgia.

“What we do know is this race is not going to come into focus until the early morning hours,” O’Malley Dillon wrote in a memo, obtained by DailyMail.com.

“This is what we’ve been built for, so let’s finish up what we have in front of us tonight, get some sleep, and get ready to close out strong tomorrow.”

The Harris campaign noted that in Pennsylvania, the biggest prize of the night, they exceeded turnout expectations in Philadelphia and had strong early vote counts in Bucks County.