Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton stopped by a Manhattan Barnes and Noble Tuesday to sign copies of her new blockbuster memoir “What Happened.”
Superfans started lining up outside Barnes and Noble as early as 11:00 p.m. Monday for a signing scheduled for 11:00 a.m. the next day.
“I’m excited for her book release because it’s something I’ve never seen from a candidate dealing with defeat,” 24-year-old Brandon Echevarria told the New York Post. Echevarria arrived the night prior at 10 p.m. “too excited to sleep.”
Barnes and Nobles let the masses in at 8:00 a.m. Upstairs, hundreds of Clinton supporters were wrangled like livestock, with thousands more waiting outside in 80 degree heat.
After arriving an hour late, Clinton signed books without formally recognizing the audience or thanking them for waiting twelve hours.
Those who did get a chance to meet Clinton were given roughly 12 seconds.
“Security was tight and touchy, in other words—and everyone wanted this to move along quickly,” wrote Alex Shepard for The New Republic. “You could, however, make eye contact with Clinton, if you were so inclined. But no one at Union Square seemed to mind about waiting twelve hours to spend roughly twelve seconds with their idol, all while being treated like cattle.”
Clinton’s book signing for What Happened occurred the same day as New York’s primaries.
Clinton did not encourage the room of Democratic supporters to vote.