On the floor of the Senate Tuesday, Minority Leader Harry Reid (D- NV) delivered a wide-ranging speech centered on the vulnerability and anxiety liberal voters, minorities, women and members of the LGBT community have been expressing all over the country.
“We have a responsibility to be the voice of the millions of Americans sitting at home, afraid they are unwelcome in Trump’s America,” Reid said.
It was the first extensive speech Reid has given on the outcome of the election since returning to Washington after Trump won his shocking victory last week.
Reid targeted Trump’s newest named senior adviser Stephen Bannon directly and called him out for his racist headlines and past comments against Jewish Americans.
“By placing a champion of white supremacists a step away from the Oval Office, what message does Trump send?”
Reid entered into the record a list of hate crimes that have been reported around the country since Trump was elected.
“They are many. They are awful. They are frightening,” Reid said. “Many of our fellow Americans believe that Trump’s election validates the kind of bullying, aggressive behavior Trump modeled daily,” Reid said.
Toward the end of the speech, Reid read from a letter he received from a 7th grade girl after the election.
“I’m extremely scared especially being a woman of color,” the letter read. “I want to feel safe in my country but I no longer can feel safe with someone like Donald Trump leading this country.”
“Trump must act immediately to make Americans – like that seventh-grade girl – feel that they are welcome in his America,” Reid said.
