Twice now, American voters have chosen Donald Trump over a woman for the presidency.
A flawed candidate who has been found liable for sexual abuse, insults women, and brags about overturning Roe v. Wade, Mr. Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016 and trounced Vice President Kamala Harris earlier this week.
Why We Wrote This
Republican Donald Trump has twice defeated a seasoned female candidate for president of the United States. Women have ably led many other nations. Are American voters ready to send a woman to the Oval Office?
Can a woman break “the highest, hardest glass ceiling,” as Mrs. Clinton describes it?
Women now hold record numbers of seats in Congress and governorships. But when running for president, they challenge the notion of who can hold a powerful position, one largely associated with white men.
“There are absolutely people out there who are not comfortable with women holding positions of leadership,” says Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. “Donald Trump fed into … that unease.’’
While campaigning, Mr. Trump ridiculed Ms. Harris, saying she would “melt down” if confronted by male authoritarian leaders. Last week, he amplified a rallygoer’s suggestion that the vice president was a prostitute.
Jasmine Daniels, a restaurant worker in Milledgeville, Georgia, says she hopes to see a woman president someday. But she voted for Mr. Trump.
“It was a tough choice: morality versus economical,” she says. “I chose economical.”
Krissy Fraelich was “shocked” by the election results. Not only that Donald Trump won, but that he won so decisively. She saw it as a strike against women’s rights, particularly reproductive rights, and as a blow to her hope to see a woman in the Oval Office. Twice now, American voters have chosen Mr. Trump over a woman for the presidency.
“It’s a slap in the face,” says the professional actor from Springfield, Pennsylvania. “I had my 25-year-old daughter call me in tears from Florida and say, ‘Why does America hate women so much?’”
Across the United States, many women are reporting feeling devastated, pained, and fearful of Mr. Trump’s return to the White House. They wonder how his supporters – 45% of whom are women – voted for a man found liable for sexual abuse, and who coarsely insults women and brags about overturning Roe v. Wade.
Why We Wrote This
Republican Donald Trump has twice defeated a seasoned female candidate for president of the United States. Women have ably led many other nations. Are American voters ready to send a woman to the Oval Office?
What does it mean that Mr. Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016 and returned in 2024 to trounce Vice President Kamala Harris? Will a woman ever break “the highest, hardest glass ceiling,” as Mrs. Clinton describes it?
Women are indeed electable, as evidenced by Mrs.