Cheers and jeers: Americans tune into Trump-Clinton debate

LAS VEGAS (AP) — From senior centers to college campuses and bars featuring campaign-themed cocktails, Americans laughed, cheered and jeered through the first debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Viewers tuned in Monday on their TVs, cellphones and radios to watch and listen to the showdown between the two major presidential candidates.

Here are some of the scenes across the U.S. as people watched the event:

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LAS VEGAS: A debate watch party at the Atria Sunlake retirement home in Las Vegas started with about 15 people, but some residents dozed off during event and the crowd thinned to about half of that an hour into the event.

“I don’t know if Hillary will be able to shut the big mouth down,” said Joan Moelter, 81, as she polished off a dinner of chicken and crab cakes with her new boyfriend, 86-year-old Jack Abrams.

A Minnesota native, Moelter owned two Dairy Queen restaurants and has long considered herself a Republican. She’s rooting for Clinton this time around.

“I think other countries are going to look at Trump and say, ‘What a disgrace the United States has,'” she said.

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CENTENNIAL, Colorado: About 25 liberals and conservatives, Clinton and Trump supporters, jammed a basement watch party organized by two former legislators from both sides of the aisle. There were no undecideds by a show of hands, and all were glued to the television screen began.

John D. Carson, a 29-year-old graduate in biomedical science from Regis University in Denver, said he hoped for more hardball questions — especially of Clinton’s national security credentials after Clinton’s email scandal. “How can we trust her?” Carson, a Trump supporter, suggested.

Before the debate ended, Khadija Haynes, a Denver political organizer who backs Clinton, said both candidates were disappointing.

Haynes said she was particularly upset that both candidates responded to a question on race relations by referring to crime. “Their answers were racist by equating that with gun violence,” said Haynes. “Crime is a symptom of the disease. And both of them gave us an aspirin answer to a cancer question.”

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RALEIGH, North Carolina: At the all-women’s Meredith College more than 75 students, faculty and guests listened carefully and quietly, save for a few laughs or short bursts of applause stemming from the debate’s back-and-forth.

That’s partially because the watch party was sponsored in part by a campus initiative focusing on civil dialogue. But it’s also because many of them had the night’s popular accessory: an “ELECTO” card, based on the popular bingo game. Each square was a likely phrase or word Clinton, Trump or moderator Lester Holt might say, like “Let’s move on,” ”Gender Gap,” and “Obamacare.” Students could fill out the cards with pieces of candy.

Student Breanna Harmon, 18, joked that there were some unexpected phrases left out on her card, like “Trumped up” and anything to do with China. Harmon, an independent voter who likes Trump’s business background, said she was taken aback by Clinton’s aggressive style early.

“I was surprised to see her throw the first shade at Donald Trump,” Harmon said. “She kind of started the argument … I thought it would be Trump.”

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PHOENIX: DeSoto Central Market in Phoenix’s redeveloping downtown set out extra tables and chairs to accommodate more than 100 people in a space where patrons often play board games or do yoga.

Two TVs were tuned to Monday Night Football, but the debate was the focus among the many young professionals who hooted and hollered.

Nick Dillon live-tweeted the debate while many around him dined on gourmet hamburgers and tacos. He said he won’t vote for Trump, but Clinton’s email scandal gives him pause. The 24-year-old middle school history teacher is deciding whether to vote for her or a third-party candidate.

He said he doesn’t like partisan politics, but he must weigh those concerns with whether his vote for an alternative party might hand the presidency to Trump. Race relations will influence his decision.

“That’s one of the things that’s very much worsening in our community, in our country. “I don’t’ see it getting better under him.”

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ST. PETERSBURG, Florida: Bartenders mixed cocktails and took orders for croquettes and hummus appetizers as MSNBC blared in the background at The Queenshead restaurant and bar.

Outdoors, the owners of the bar set up a large screen and projected the debate. The largely Democratic crowd applauded and laughed when Clinton mentioned that Trump “lived in his own reality.”

Richard Florence, a 38-year-old St. Petersburg artist, drank from a bottle of Bud Light adorned with white stars as he watched the debate. He said he wasn’t impressed with either candidate and was not voting for Trump or Clinton and was considering a protest vote, possibly for Green Party candidate Jill Stein.

“This, to me, spiritually, is gross,” he said.

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CLEVELAND: Less than a mile from where Trump accepted the Republican nomination two months ago, hundreds of people attended a watch party called “Desserts & Debate.”

The event, which was billed as non-partisan and non-political, was free and open to the public, and was part of the Greater Cleveland Caucus, a year-long series of events led by the non-profit Cleveland Foundation. More than 400 people registered and many of them filled chairs set up in the lobby of the historic Calfee Building.

Tom Jordan, a 36-year-old urban planner who lives in Cleveland, said he liked “that it’s not just a one-sided crowd, so that’s cool.”

Still, Jordan said he’s “99.9 percent sure” he’ll vote for Hillary Clinton.

“I’m one of those people who bought the media narrative going back to the 90’s that Hillary’s kind of unlikable. But, I’m impressed with her so far. I think she just comes across as presidential and professional. And, my goodness, she has the patience of a saint — putting up with this (Trump’s attacks.)”

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STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania: Around a hundred students munched on slices of pizza, chatted about politics in an auditorium at Penn State to watch the debate.

Chris Baker, a senior studying political science, history and economics, sat with three other students all wearing red “Make America Great Again” hats.

Baker, the leader of the pro-Trump group on campus, said he thought Trump had the edge on Clinton during the debate. “When he said that would release his tax returns when Hillary Clinton releases her emails, I thought that was a strike from Donald Trump directly at Hillary Clinton that she cannot respond to.”

Freshman Greg Gavazzi said he is Clinton supporter — but Trump surprised him.

“I think Trump is a lot more poised than I expected him to be,” said Gavazzi, who is studying chemical engineering. But he thought Trump was still “resorting to some of the yelling tactics from earlier and I think it’s really interesting seeing Clinton’s poise with what’s going on right now and the way they’re handling each debate.”

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Causey reported from Phoenix and Rindels from Las Vegas. Associated Press reporters Tamara Lush in St. Petersburg, Florida; Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina; Corey Williams in Detroit; Mike Householder in Cleveland; Barbara Rodriguez in Des Moines, Iowa; Dake Kang at State College, Pennsylvania; Alex Sanz in Atlanta; and Jim Anderson in Centennial, Colorado.