Crowds gather at Times Square for Election Day

Lydia Taylor|November 7, 2016

Austin Branton, a 20-year-old from Detroit, performs in the middle of Times Square Nov. 7, 2016, dressed as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

With a matter of hours until the 45th president of the United States is announced, KentWired sent reporters to New York to cover each presidential nominee watch party and the crowds that come to celebrate.

While political advertisements have been flooding television sets, Times Square’s billboards were barren of anything political on Monday night. 

Small crowds were scattered throughout the square, but Austin Branton’s depiction of Donald Trump captivated one of the larger audiences. 

Branton, a 20-year-old from Detroit, traveled to New York and stood in the middle of Times Square just to make people laugh. 

Dressed in a navy suit with a red tie and wearing a Donald Trump mask, Branton used popular mannerisms of Trump’s, dancing around and even performing with the infamous Naked Cowboy, to entertain the crowd.

“I like to be out here around all this energy and out of my comfort zone — just to have fun,” Branton said. “I find Trump to be a funny guy, and I’m a funny guy. It’s nice to see people take a break from all the chaos of this election and just stand here, laughing with me.”

Tuesday night would have been Branton’s first time voting in a General Election, but he remains undecided and will not vote. 

Branton plans to perform in Times Square up until all the votes are counted.

“It’s a really hard election. It’s quite the election for my first time witnessing one, but there’s no clear deciding factor for me,” Branton said. “I might as well have fun with it.” 

Lydia Taylor is a senior reporter, contact her at [email protected].