Millennials could have stopped Trump, but we didn’t

We millennials — 18-to-34-year-olds — could have stopped Donald Trump, but we didn’t.

We allowed, and even perpetuated, the vial, misogynistic agenda of the total and complete assault on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

We could have gone down in history. We could have been able to look back and tell our children that we were the difference; that we stopped a nefarious man from the most powerful position in the world.

{mosads}I still cannot understand how we could not see the consequences of our lack of action. The stakes were so high, but still many of us seemed to be fueled by delusions about Clinton. We acted without political or historical context. Hell, many of us acted on the ideals of conspiracy theories.

Many of us who were part of the assault or did nothing seemed to ignore the fact that the anti-Clinton crusade originated from the far right-wing. So, even if you consider yourself a liberal progressive, you were a puppet in the right-wing agenda.

Were you simply blind to the extreme bias of this anti-Clinton crusade?

We could have stopped him, and by not doing so, we’ve compromised the safety of America, the safety of Muslims across the world, the lives of Latinos, the protection of the LGBT community, the security of African-Americans, and the rights of women in the United States.

Isn’t it ironic? This was the first time a female candidate has been so close to the White House, yet we’ve allowed our country to take a massive step back on basic women’s and human rights.

We have been part of no revolution, people. Instead, we have been a pawn in the degradation of our country. We have made our work for progress 10 million times harder, and again, we have compromised the lives of so many in the process.

As a young American, I would like to use this platform to personally apologize to the marginalized people of my country and of the world. I tried — really, I did — but I could have tried harder.

I’m sorry my generation has failed you.

My father, Allan Lichtman, is a political historian whose system, “The 13 Keys to the White House,” has predicted presidential elections correctly since 1984. He was right again this year.

But to the slew of people who contacted me post-election, saying things like, “At least your Dad was right,” it was not worth it. I take no comfort. I just wish people had listened to him a year ago when he was trying to encourage millennials to get behind Clinton or else face the doom of Trump.

In retrospect, it’s easy to call him a genius after the fact, but it was even easier for many of you to ignore the historical and political warning signs and act on pure emotion.

We failed.

To those who woke up on Nov. 9 yearning for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Clinton’s rival for the Democratic nomination, don’t you see you’re doing it all over again?

You’re blaming Clinton, again! You’re pointing your finger at the woman in this situation.

How about you look in the mirror for a second and reevaluate where you’re placing the blame?

If you’re curious how the protest and third-party votes affected the election, check out my father’s system. Pay special attention to Key No. 2, “The Contest Key,” and Key No. 4: “The Third-Party Key,” and you’ll see how the protest vote and the third-party vote helped get Trump into the White House.

To those of us who cast a ballot for Trump, I’m not even sure where to begin. But I still have love for all humankind.

That being said, I’m embarrassed.

We could have stopped him, my friends.

We could have stopped him, but we didn’t.

Lichtman is a millennial writer whose father, Allan Lichtman, is a longtime contributor to The Hill.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.