America hates women.

America hates Black women, especially. America hates our LGBTQ kids. America hates Latinos. America hates the poor. America hates itself.

When President Joe Biden stepped down from the campaign, and Kamala Harris stepped up, I was hopeful, but I was scared. I actually told my husband that I was worried that we wouldn’t get it right and that my heart couldn’t take another loss like 2016. We as a nation had already rejected one highly qualified, intelligent woman in favor of a man with no experience, only hatred and bluster. And now we’re going to put up a highly qualified, intelligent woman of color up against that same man with a literal cult following? A following that forgave him for instigating a coup? A following that looked the other way after dozens of women accused him of sexually assaulting them? A following that thinks nothing of him being convicted of 34 felonies and accused of national security crimes?

And still, I had hope.

I was swept away by her optimism, the joy, the positive messaging, the promise of a return of women’s rights, and the continuation of a healthy economy. I thought my fellow Americans could see that her steadiness, her competence, and that her experience could lead us effectively. I believed his vitriol, his threats to attack his political enemies, his alignment with weirdos like Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the warnings from his former advisors that he is a fascist who wants to use the United States military against American citizens would alarm enough people on the right to do the right thing. I thought the fact that the Supreme Court has preemptively pardoned him from anything he does in the office, and the fact that he learned from the last time and will surround himself with only sycophants and Project 2025 architects would be scary enough for any right-thinking American to be terrified to give him power again.

I thought we all learned that he couldn’t be trusted to lead after he let hundreds of thousands of us die from a mismanaged pandemic, and then refused to cede power after a free and fair election. I really thought we learned.

But I was wrong. I was wrong about how much this country hates women. I was wrong about how much our American fathers, our brothers, our boyfriends, our husbands, our sons, and other white women hate women and don’t trust us to control our own bodies, much less lead.

I don’t know what to say. Prepare to fight, I guess. Brace yourself for what is coming, because nothing good is coming for any of us. Resist and look for ways to help those that MAGA is going to beat down, strip of rights, dehumanize. Give your time and money to causes you believe in. Speak up. Protest. Vote when you can. And hope that his incompetence is the one thing that stands between us and whatever dark machinations he is waiting to unleash.

I wish I had something positive to give to you, but I just don’t have it in me right now. Maybe I’ll find it in a day, a week. Maybe in a month. But right now I am empty.

TV news will wait until tomorrow. Right now, I’m going to go take care of my broken heart and deal with this suffocating fear that is consuming me. I urge you to do what you need to take care of yourself, too.

WATCH THIS

The Golden Bachelorette: The Men Tell All 7 p.m., ABC

Live From the Other Side with Tyler Henry: Let’s hope the dead spirit that Tyler speaks with in this finale isn’t our democracy. Season finale. 5 p.m., Netflix

Gaslight: Yes, this 1944 thriller in which a woman is slowly driven crazy by her husband is where the term “gaslighting” comes from. 7 p.m., TCM

Late Night:

• Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Whoopi Goldberg, Conrad Ricamora, Rosie Perez, Bailey Zimmerman
• Late Night with Seth Meyers: Joel McHale, Ali Larter
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: George Stephanopoulos, Lenny Kravitz
• After Midnight: Opey Olagbaju, Laura Peek, Guy Branum
• Jimmy Kimmel Live: Jon Favreau, Jon Lovitz, Dan Pfeiffer, Tommy Vietor, Alessia Cara
• The Daily Show: Tressie McMillan Cottom, host Desi Lydic
• Watch What Happens Live: Joy Bryant, Whitney Rose

WEDS.

7:00

7:30

8:00

8:30

9:00

9:30

ABC

The Golden Bachelorette (new)

Abbott Elementary (new)

What Would You Do? (new)

CBS

Survivor (new)

The Summit (new)

CW

WWE NXT (live)

Local

FOX

The Masked Singer (new)

The Floor (new)

News/Local

NBC

Chicago Med (new)

Chicago Fire (new)

Chicago P.D. (new)