I'm not American, but I remember feeling anxious the entire day- I thought Hillary was probably going to win but the Brexit debacle earlier that year was making me nervous.
It wasn't that I really liked Hillary Clinton or even the Democrats, but as conservative religious rightwing loons the Republicans offended all of my liberal sensibilities, and as someone who'd been gleefully gloating over rightwing rage over a black president and gay marriage being legalised the entire Obama presidency, the possibility of having the tables turned on liberals was just unthinkably terrible.
After the Brexit vote had turned out to be a completely grim experience to see unfold in real time, I had decided to tune out of the election entirely and just wake up to see who won. However, I decided to take a quick look at how the vote was going before I went to bed which ended up being a huge mistake. It was the Brexit vote all over again, just a big fat L with a profound sense of doom settling on me as I began following discussions on Reddit, mainly on r/politics but also on some more general liberal anti-Trump places I can't even remember. I was actually already lurking on the Chapo sub by this point, but I felt conflicted about it because my lib brain was telling me that bernie bros were dangerously sexist or whatever else I'd heard on Colbert
Anyway, I ended up staying up bleary-eyed until 7 AM until just collapsing to sleep on the couch, feeling like an asteroid had just struck the Earth. This time around, I don't really care all that much- while I hope the Republicans will eat shit, watching the VBNMW crowd's reaction to Trump winning would also be funny
I was still more of a social democrat at the time, voted Bernie in primary of course, but bought into the having to vote Clinton to run up the score against Trump from a blue state. That night I sat alone in my apartment and finished a 12 pack of pbr as I stressfully watched east coast states one by one go to Trump. I have to say I was a little shocked he won. Not to a delusional level, but I certainly was not expecting it. The next day was interesting. My sunny and warm California college campus that was usually bustling with conversations and happiness was dead silent with people walking around in somber. Probably what I'll remember most tbh