The current Vice President of The United States, Kamala Harris, ran for President and lost. 139 million votes were counted, and as of Nov. 7, there are still some left to be counted, however it is clear that opposing elect Donald Trump will be the winner. The U.S. had the chance to vote for a strong woman that could help our country and could be a historic leader for us, but instead they voted for a felon, and the guy who was found liable for rape. The U.S. has failed Kamala Harris and the young women that call it home. She could’ve been the first female President in our history.

Harris is a daughter of immigrants living in Oakland California, her mother was from India and her father is from Jamaica. Harris was inspired by her mother, as she was a breast cancer scientist and a pioneer that had her own right to come to the United States at age 19. Fast forward, Harris started off as a District Attorney in San Francisco during 2004 where she was a national leader in the LGBTQ+ rights movement. She also established the office’s environmental justice unit.

In 2010, Harris was elected Attorney General of California where she was in charge of the largest justice department in the country. In 2017, Harris was sworn into the United States Senate, and in 2021 Harris was sworn in as Vice President for Joe Biden being the first woman, Black American and South Asian American to be elected in this position. All of this made her a qualified candidate, but it wasn’t enough for the American voters this past Tuesday.

Harris supported women’s rights. Donald Trump handpicked certain judges for the Supreme Court to take away reproductive freedom that women need, and most of the members are men. Harris stood and helped women. “I support Roe v. Wade being put back into law by Congress,” Harris told CBS News, “and restoring the fundamental right of women to make decisions about their own body.” The U.S could have chosen the first woman president who would restore the rights that were taken away from women, but they didn’t.

Harris also supported LGBTQ+ rights. The Biden-Harris administration has sued states to block anti-trans laws and policies; they also asked the supreme court to lift bans on medically necessary health care for trans kids. Harris helped represent the LGBTQ+ community and was representing tons of kids and adults whose family don’t accept them for who they are. As a 16 year old young girl that’s a part of the LGBTQ+ community, it hurts me to see that my rights could be taken away just because I love who I want to love. Once again, the U.S. chose to elect a candidate with a track history of rolling back rights instead of protecting them.

Finally, Harris was a qualified presidential candidate. Trump has 34 felony counts, 6 bankruptcies, 2 impeachments, 2 cases pending and he has been found liable of rape. Though he has distanced himself from it, Trump’s former team created Project 2025 for his administration. Project 2025 is a federal policy agenda, which means sets of problems or certain subjects that are viewed as important by the people involved in policy making. This project is a long list of policy recommendations almost affecting nearly every aspect in American life. Such as Abortion rights, free speech and racial justice, basic rights all people should be awarded. But, again, Americans voted for that instead of a woman with an agenda that could help them.

These next few years, we don’t really know what Trump can and can’t do. He could change his mind on certain things. Some of his decisions could be good for America. Trump is on good terms with foreign countries like Russia and North Korea, and says he can resolve foreign conflicts easily.

On Tuesday, America failed — not just Harris, but itself. America is hurting. And wanting to know how we all let the felon win. This country could have had the first woman president even if it was for one term. Harris showed young girls they could be a leader and be strong and get through things. There was so much hope for her to win from people around the country, even from around the world. Instead, voters chose the felon with a track record of taking rights away.