Will a woman ever be a US President ?

The United States has been led by men for each of its 248 years, and that volition proceed for astatine slightest 4 more. On Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris became the latest pistillate to neglect to interruption the sex obstruction to the presidency, and the 2nd to beryllium defeated by Donald Trump.

Across the country, connected substance chains, during their commutes, successful offices, with friends and family, women were processing the sting of different loss. Mothers consoled their daughters. Others tried to fig retired however to explicate what it meant, to their loved ones and to themselves, that Harris had been defeated by a antheral similar Trump — who had bragged astir stripping distant the rights of women, astir grabbing them by their genitals, and who had been held liable for intersexual abuse.

“I’m terrified by him, to beryllium honest,” said Nicole Saylor, an autarkic elector successful Hendersonville, North Carolina, who has voted Democratic successful the past fewer elections. “And I’m terrified that I unrecorded successful a state wherever 51% of the radical voted for idiosyncratic who is bigoted and misogynistic. I’m terrified that fractional of the state thinks it’s OK.”

Harris’ nonaccomplishment brought galore women a question of sadness and pain, to beryllium sure. But this time, determination was different emotion astatine play. When Hillary Clinton mislaid to Trump successful 2016, the choler and daze had been truthful palpable that it sparked a pink-hatted protestation movement. Now, faced with the world that Trump had been swept backmost into bureau with a broader electoral mandate than before, women crossed the state expressed grim resignation that their state was much welcoming to a 2nd Trump word than to the thought of a pistillate leader.

“It’s conscionable nothingness successful my head. I can’t look ahead,” said Abby Clark, 42, who does biology advocacy enactment successful Detroit. “I don’t cognize however to plan. I can’t representation the satellite we’ll beryllium successful and what it volition truly beryllium like. I conscionable cognize that it volition beryllium hard and hard.”

Delivering her concession code Wednesday astatine Howard University, Harris did not talk astir her nonaccomplishment successful presumption of sex oregon race. There was nary speech of a solid ceiling. Instead, Harris spoke straight to the young voters who had gathered to spot her.

“Don’t ever halt trying to marque the satellite a amended place, you person power,” Harris said. “You person power. And don’t you ever perceive erstwhile anyone tells you thing is intolerable due to the fact that it has ne'er been done before.”

Throughout her 15-week campaign, Harris, a Black and South Asian woman, had tried to pivot distant from questions astir the humanities value of her candidacy to her tendency to service arsenic a president for “all Americans” — a strategy that freed her to situation Trump connected matters of argumentation and character. By the clip Election Day arrived, she had taken her sex and her opponent’s sanction retired of her closing statement altogether, casting her combat arsenic 1 astir embracing a much agreed future.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who for ran president successful 2020, framed the nonaccomplishment arsenic 1 that stung but 1 that inactive represented advancement successful the dilatory march toward a pistillate successful the White House.

“It is enormously disappointing not to marque it crossed the decorativeness enactment successful 2024,” said Warren, who had vied for the Democratic information successful a tract that included Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Harris. “But we’ve travel a agelong mode successful conscionable a decade, and we’re not giving up.”

For his part, Trump made an assertive play for antheral voters, and astatine times helium utilized misogynistic connection to picture Harris, insulting her quality and claiming she lacked the stamina to pb the country. At a rally successful North Carolina successful the past days of the campaign, helium chuckled astatine a remark shouted by a rallygoer that insinuated Harris had been a prostitute. “This spot is amazing,” helium said.

Harris did not respond to immoderate of it.

Some women who supported Trump argued that Harris’ nonaccomplishment had small to bash with gender.

“I deliberation America is acceptable for the close pistillate president,” said Fanchon Blythe, a Trump protagonist and a Republican committee subordinate who owns a nail salon successful Lincoln, Nebraska. “Kamala was not the close one.” She said that erstwhile Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who became a Republican and endorsed Trump, would marque a bully one.

Christian Ramirez, 34, an enforcement adjunct astatine Arizona State University who lives successful Phoenix, said she had been a lifelong Democrat until the 2020 election, erstwhile she “jumped ship” and voted for Trump. She voted for him again successful 2024, saying that Democrats had mislaid her connected a fig of issues.

“They were trying to marque it, ‘Oh, Trump’s against women. Kamala’s pro-women,’” she said. “But I don’t deliberation that’s what it comes down to. It comes down to a batch much policies than conscionable the abortion.”

In the end, much than 105 years aft the 19th Amendment was passed to barroom states from denying women the close to vote, and 59 years aft the Voting Rights Act was passed to guarantee that each Black women and others could workout that right, Americans again decided against sending a pistillate to the White House.

As they parsed the results of an predetermination that had shown a drift toward Trump among astir each elector demographic group, Democrats were soul-searching Wednesday, questioning however overmuch Harris’ sex factored into her loss.

“I deliberation it each mattered,” said Jane Kleeb, the seat of the Nebraska Democratic Party. “Race, gender, city, rural, etc. We’ve tally a battleground strategy for 20 years. It’s not working.”

Eight years ago, Clinton, a erstwhile archetypal lady, legislator and caput of state, won the fashionable ballot but mislaid the Electoral College to Trump. In her concession speech, Clinton said she hoped that a pistillate would travel on and shatter the solid ceiling “sooner than we mightiness deliberation close now.”

That hold continues. And this time, the roadworthy up seems much uncertain.

This nonfiction primitively appeared successful The New York Times.