American voters in London pitch competing visions of US

LONDON — More than 4,000 miles from home, small groups of Democratic and Republican voters in the British capital gathered within 2 miles of each other to witness what both sides have framed as one of — if not the — most important elections in American history.

There are some 306,000 American voters in the U.K., according to the Federal Voting Assistance Program, making them the second largest foreign voting block behind their 660,000 compatriots in Canada.

Those who gathered in London on Tuesday were pitching vastly different visions crafted by wildly different directors.

Vice President Kamala Harris had vowed to give opponents “a seat at my table,” promising to bridge the widening divides fracturing American political culture. She decried former President Donald Trump as a “fascist” seeking “unchecked power.”

Trump had threatened to set the military on what he called the “enemy within,” telling supporters they “won’t have a country anymore” if he does not win back the White House. The former president still baselessly claims he won the 2020 election, and was hesitant to commit to accepting the results of Tuesday’s vote if he lost again.

The Democrats Abroad event in central London kicked off just before polls closed, when confidence was high among Democratic voters in the U.K. and elsewhere. The group booked its event location through until Wednesday morning, prepared for a long wait for a clear result.

By the early hours of Wednesday morning, though, Trump had claimed victory as he neared the all-important 270 electoral college vote mark. Harris cancelled her planned address at Howard University in Washington, D.C., as supporters trickled away.

Democrats Abroad U.K. Chair Kristin Wolfe was among those who were supremely confident in the final hours of voting.

“I feel like this is really going to be the night,” she told ABC News. “Not only are we going to turn a page on this old, stale rhetoric that has been coming out of the Trump camp for nine years, but we also get to look forward to something so optimistic.”

The ornamentation was assured. The event location — the details of which were not published due to security concerns — was decked out with red, white and blue bunting, hung around countless posters bearing Harris’ campaign refrain, “When we fight, we win.”

“I’m trying not to get too excited,” Harris supporter PK Whalen said. “We’ve been disappointed before.”

One volunteer told ABC News they felt like “a joyful warrior,” and that they were “completely and utterly convinced” that Harris would win.

Others were less sure, but still positive. “I can either be worried or I can hope for the best,” attendee Kshitij Kumar said.

The organized Republican footprint in the U.K. is smaller. Unlike the Democrats Abroad UK group which is organized and funded by the Democratic Party, Republicans Overseas is not an official part of the GOP.

Republican organizers like Greg Swenson always expect their team to place second within the U.K., given that Americans living in the country skew towards the demographic, educational and economic groups with which Democrats generally perform better. Some groups, though — particularly the 10,000 or so military personnel in the U.K. — do somewhat lean right.

Swenson and a handful of colleagues planned to gather at a bar in central London on Tuesday to follow the results while juggling media appearances. A larger event was planned for Wednesday night. “Hopefully it’s a victory party,” Swenson told ABC News.

If not, Swenson said he hoped for a clear result and a graceful response from Trump. “If Trump doesn’t accept the results of the election, I don’t think that’s good news,” he said, adding that the former president’s baseless claims of electoral theft in 2020 were “foolish” from a campaign perspective.

“I would love it if Trump won by several points,” Swenson said. “And if Kamala wins, good for her. I hope it’s by five points.”

Foreign policy generally does not move the needle significantly in U.S. presidential contests, though its importance may be somewhat elevated in 2024 with ongoing wars in eastern Europe in the Middle East in which U.S. forces are deeply involved — and in some cases, directly threatened.

Foreign policy will likely be a more pressing concern for Americans living outside of the country, as might be the thought that this week’s election will cast the country in one of two very different international roles.

Trump’s message to the world, Swenson said, is that America remains “the land of opportunity, and there’s a reason people want to move here.”

“We can be prosperous again — that’s better for the world and we can bring peace back,” he added, though acknowledged Trump “might exaggerate a little bit there.”

“People might not miss Trump, but they miss peace and prosperity. And I think Americans living abroad are a little closer to it.”

The former president’s embrace of controversial figures like Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Swenson said, suggests that the new Republican movement is one of “future- and forward- looking people that aren’t yesterday’s news.”

For Trump’s opponents, his election would mean a return to provocative nationalism, naked transactionalism and fawning praise of authoritarians.

If Trump wins, “It means we cannot give up,” Wolfe said.

“But I don’t think it’s going to happen. I think that the American people know exactly what Donald Trump stands for, and they don’t like it.”