From strikers to swing states, a popular sports bar nestled in the corners of Elephant and Castle opened its doors to election-fiends on Tuesday night, as Donald Trump surged towards his second term as US President.
Feed the Yak, an independent Irish Beer Shop, made a quick shift from week four of the Champions League to both CNN and Fox News broadcasts in an effort to welcome all election-viewers through their doors.
But the typical-matchday bar was packed with supporters of Kamala Harris to witness her attempt at becoming the first female president of the United States.
However, as early poll results moved towards former President Trump, projections for the Republican candidate were met with loud jeers and gestures towards the television monitors.
Meanwhile, calls in favour of the Vice President were loudly applauded, the earliest of which arrived for her first win taking the state of Vermont.
Among supporters of Harris were former politics students Danielle and Caitlin, who spoke of their long-standing tradition of watching American elections together.
The friends watched Trump take victory in 2016, but missed out on witnessing Biden assume office four years later due to restrictions from the pandemic – now, they’re confident another Trump win means both of them bring bad luck.
Caitlin said: ”Basically our friendship ends. We’re not allowed to watch it together again.”
Meanwhile, the pair nodded towards the issue of abortion as a key motive for female voters to come out against the views of Trump.
Caitlin said: “With Roe v Wade being such a massive debate unfortunately in America, I do think that this possibly has the opportunity of being a protest vote, like a referendum essentially on abortion rights.”
With Feed the Yak the preferred spot for many Londoners, seats to watch the monumental election were also filled by those who had moved abroad from across the pond.
One attendee, American-born Marcus who has since moved to the UK and voted through an absentee ballot, pointed out the strange circumstances he found himself in while watching the night unfold.
He said: “It’s definitely interesting to watch as an American being outside of the United States in this environment, watching and being surrounded by both British and American groups of people.
“I’ve definitely been very attentive, just looking at the electoral votes.”
With the sports bar’s doors closing at 5am, many viewers had already made their way to the streets of south London as projections for Donald Trump poured in during the early hours.
Now, the presidential nominee has declared personal victory at his campaign headquarters in West Palm Beach, with the final states waiting to be counted and verified.
Featured image credit Lucy Blitz
Join the discussion