WASHINGTON (TNND) — Former President Bill Clinton suggested on Sunday that the US is more likely to elect its first female president if that person is a Republican.

The comment follows Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to President-elect Donald Trump in the presidential election. Bill Clinton’s wife, Hillary Clinton, also ran for the Oval Office on the Democratic ticket in 2016 and lost to Trump.

Bill Clinton, who helped campaign for Harris, suggested during an appearance on CBS News Sunday Morning that the country may not be ready for a female Democrat to lead.

I think in some ways we have moved to the right in response to all the unrest,” he said. “And I think if Hillary had been nominated in 2008, she would have walked in like Obama.”

The former president talked about how the many “cultural battles” in the US make it more difficult for a woman to become president.

“Do you think it has more to do with party than gender?” asked news correspondent Tracy Smith.

“No,” Bill Clinton replied. “Although I think it would probably be easier for a conservative Republican woman to win.”

“Then a Democratic woman,” Smith finished.

Bill Clinton added that the country will see its first female president “fairly soon.”

Hillary Clinton in August called on Harris to break the country’s “highest, highest” glass ceiling, a reference to the all-male history of the American presidency.

“Together we have put a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling,” she said. “On the other side of that glass ceiling, Kamala Harris raises her hand and takes the oath of office as our 47th President of the United States. Folks, my friends, when a barrier falls for one of us, it opens the way for all of us.”

Former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley gained significant momentum during her 2024 campaign and was one of Trump’s strongest competitors within the Republican Party. She eventually suspended her campaign and endorsed Trump.

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