US Senator Harry Reid on Friday released a statement acknowledging Donald Trump's election has unearthed fears among several minority groups, including African Americans, Hispanics, Muslims, and people from the LGBT community, saying the president-elect must begin to “roll back the tide of hate he unleashed.”
“The election of Donald Trump has emboldened the forces of hate and bigotry in America,” Reid added.
The Democrat has represented Nevada in the US Senate since 1986 and became Senate Minority Leader in 2015. In his statement Friday, he the said that after having been on the ballot in the Silver State for 26 elections, he had “never seen anything like the reaction" to Tuesday's election.
He acknowledged that groups like white nationalists, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and ISIS have openly celebrated Trump’s victory, “while innocent, law-abiding Americans are wracked with fear.”
Reid said that he has heard countless stories over the past two days from people in communities that Trump has directly targeted throughout his campaign.
“Hispanic Americans who fear their families will be torn apart, African Americans being heckled on the street, Muslim Americans afraid to wear a headscarf, gay and lesbian couples having slurs hurled at them and feeling afraid to walk down the street holding hands,” he said.
The senator had also heard from “young girls unable to understand why a man who brags about sexually assaulting women has been elected president.”
Reid said the country must not cast people into the background as it works on ways to move forward. He also held the media accountable for the way it covers the president-elect over the next few months.
“Every news piece that breathlessly obsesses over inauguration preparations compounds their fear by normalizing a man who has threatened to tear families apart, who has bragged about sexually assaulting women, and who has directed crowds of thousands to intimidate reporters and assault African Americans,” he said.
Finally, Reid acknowledged that as people recover, they “must first put the responsibility for healing where it belongs: at the feet of Donald Trump.”