Harry Reid just spoke on the floor of the Senate. He enumerated the many hate crimes filtering in since the election of Donald Trump, entering the over 300 incidents into the Senate record. From there, he got dead serious as to what those incidents show.
Hundreds of incidents in the last few days. I would ask that be made part of the record. Without objection. That was entered into the record, those references made were awful or hateful or frightening and scary. I invite any of my colleagues to read these horrible acts and invite any Democrat or Republican to come down to this floor today and defend any one of them—these examples of hate and prejudice. I don't believe anyone wants to defend the hateful acts being committed in president-elect trump's name.
They lead to one unavoidable conclusion. Many believe that trump's election validates a kind of bullying and aggressive behavior trump modelled on a daily basis. How do we teach our children that bragging about sexual assault is abhorrent if it is dismissed as locker room talk? We failed to hold Trump accountable and normalized his behavior. Here's a letter from a seventh grader from Rhode Island the day after the election and I will quote from the letter. Seventh grader.
”I'm extremely scared especially being a woman of color that the president of the country is making me feel unsafe when I actually shouldn't feel unsafe. It's scarier because this man who is the president of the United States of America said such rude, ignorant and disrespectful things about women and all types of people. He is in charge of our country. I want to feel safe in my country, but I no longer feel safe with someone like Trump leading the country.”
And then Reid asked Donald Trump to step into the ring and be an adult.
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Talk is cheap and tweets are cheaper. So far, rather than healing these wounds, Trump's actions have deepened them. His first official act? He appointed a man seen as the champion of white supremacy. According to CNN—and I quote—“whites nationalist leaders praise Donald Trump's decision to name Stephan Bannon as his strategist.” In the same article, white nationalists say they see Bannon as an advocate for policies they favor. And according to poverty law center. They are becoming that.
When asked to comment on Bannon's hiring, David duke told CNN, “I think that's excellent.” A court filing stated that Bannon said, again another quote, “he doesn't like Jews and he doesn't like the way they raise their kids to be whiney brats and he didn't want his girls to go to school with Jews,” closed quote. That's a court document.
By placing a champion of white supremacist a step away from the oval office, what message is Trump sending the young girl who woke up in Rhode Island afraid to be a woman of color in America? It's not a message of healing. If Trump is serious about seeking unity, he should rescind his appointment of Steve Bannon. Rescind it. Don't do it. Think about this. Don't do it. As long as a champion of racial division is a step away from the oval office, it will be impossible to take his efforts to heal the nation seriously. I say to Donald Trump, take responsibility. Rise to the dignity of the office, the president of the United States. Stop hiding behind your Twitter account and show America that racism and bigotry have noplace in the white house or in America. I yield the floor, Mr. President.