Nearly everyone checks their phone as soon as they wake up, a habit scientists have warned against. The morning of Nov. 6 was the first time I’ve felt genuine remorse for my habit. Ignorance is bliss, right?

I went to sleep the night before cautiously hopeful and vaguely optimistic that Kamala Harris would secure the 44 electoral votes blue wall states Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania would provide and maintain Democratic control of the White House.

When I woke up, my hope was swallowed by the acidic knot that formed in my stomach while reading headlines detailing Donald Trump’s victory. 

At first, I was enraged by the people who voted for Donald Trump. Particularly dismayed by the young, college-aged men who’ve flown Trump flags from their trucks and porches with little to no knowledge of what the man actually stands for, I could physically feel my blood pressure rising. It was similar to the rage I felt in 2020 when I’d learn a long-held friend of mine was voting for Trump.

But the objects of my outrage soon shifted the longer I sat with the feeling of impending doom.

Sure, Trump voters might hate women, people of color and other marginalized communities more than they hate a rapist and convicted felon, but they are not the most to blame.

The Democrats’ campaign strategy — with their focus on the presidential race rather than down ballot votes, their reliance on celebrity endorsements and their unwavering support for Joe Biden until he dropped out of the race in late July — certainly needs revamping.  However, I take most issue with the party’s simultaneous exploitation and silencing of marginalized communities, the very people they swore to serve if they won this election.

It is a political strategy issue, certainly, but more importantly, it is a moral issue.

The most obvious group that the Democrats neglected are Palestinians. After refusing to allow a Palestinian to speak at the Democratic National Convention and Harris’s adherence to Biden’s pro-Israel stances, much of the community found themselves at a moral crossroads and were unable to give Harris their vote.

Despite hitting battleground state after battleground state in the days leading up to the election, Harris could not mobilize the large Muslim population in Michigan due to consistent efforts from the Democrats to silence Palestinian voices and concerns over their party platform.

Harris attempted to play both sides, too, saying she’d end the war in Gaza but also ensure Israeli security. Palestinian voters needed her to take a strong, unwavering stance, and that did not happen.

Simply put, the Democrats lost crucial votes needed to win this election due to their own moderate and elitist politics that excluded Palestinians and their allies.

Palestinians were not the only marginalized community absent from Democrats’ concerns. After the Democratic National Convention, many were infuriated by the lack of attention given to transgender rights. Of course, transgender rights grew more central to Harris’s campaign after Trump’s ignorant claims that she wants to do “transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.”

Given Trump’s dangerous and disgusting rhetoric surrounding transgender rights as perpetuated by his political advertisements, it makes sense that many transgender Americans backed Harris. However, this is only because of the extremism in Trump’s stances — not because Harris and the Democrats care to uplift transgender identities.

Not only did Harris and the Democrats weaponize the fear of LGBTQ+ people for the benefit of their campaign, but they also weaponized the fear of women.

With the pending Trump presidency, it is no secret that reproductive rights are in danger. The Harris campaign utilized the threat of a national abortion ban to their favor in numerous political ads. One of these ads was a one-minute clip where a young woman details the sexual abuse she endured at the hands of her stepfather when she was a child. These kinds of ads are more reminiscent of trauma porn than actual attempts to mobilize voters.

While the Democrats certainly hold pro-choice stances and would’ve protected reproductive rights if they’d taken the White House, the fact that women’s fears were exploited for the purpose of a campaign strategy is abhorrent and disappointing.

If Democrats spent half as much time genuinely marketing themselves to Americans as they did exploiting the concerns and pain of marginalized communities, maybe they wouldn’t have lost to Trump twice.

I feel disappointed by the Republicans’ victory, but I feel betrayed by the Democrats’ loss.