Tuesday from the Senate floor, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s reaction to last weekend’s mass shooting in Orlando FL proves Trump “is not commander-in-chief material.”
Reid said, “Throughout history in times of crisis and tragedy, the American people look to leaders for one thing — leadership. Americans don’t want to hear excuses. we don’t want to hear self-congratulations. We don’t want to hear scapegoating. It’s a very simple concept: we want our leaders to lead. in the aftermath of Sunday’s shooting at The Pulse nightclub in Orlando, FL, a place of celebration for the LGBT community, Donald Trump proved that he is a terrible leader, as he is a terrible businessman. Trump proved he is not the person to lead our nation through difficult times, or in fact any time. Trump failed the most important of tests for a presidential candidate: how to respond in a crisis when our citizens are you under attack. How do you respond? Donald Trump failed that test. He proved he is not commander in chief material.”
He continued, “Trump isn’t the person we want to have his finger on the nuclear button, because he’s clearly incapable of that responsibility.”
Reid added, “Donald Trump is not capable enough or experienced enough for this high level of responsibility. We expect more from a commander in chief. Here’s how Trump responded to Sunday’s massacre — classic Trump. within hours of the shooting, Trump first congratulated himself — congratulated himself — and then began to immediately denigrate Muslim-Americans. Trump then suggested our president and one of secretary’s aides may be in league with the terrorists. Donald Trump suggested that President Obama and one of Secretary Clinton’s aides may be in league with Islamic terrorists. Is this outrageous? Of course it is. It is outrageous for Donald Trump to suggest that the president of the United States, our commander in chief, would support terrorists and the murder of innocent Americans. But yesterday, one day after the mass shooting in modern — it is the worst in modern American history — Trump, the standard-bearer for the Republican party, went even further. Trump was hateful, he was vicious, he was Donald Trump. Everything that Republicans knew him to be when they made him the party’s nominee. Donald Trump used his remarks to foment hatred against millions of innocent Americans, based solely on what? On their religion. He denigrated Muslim-Americans, all 8 million of them. The Republican nominee suggests that all Muslim-Americans are complicit in this, that they, Muslim-Americans — listen to this one, this is a direct quote — “know what’s going on” — close quote. Trump also renewed his call for a ban on all Muslims coming in the United States. Trump’s speech was as one news outlet called it “a dangerous mix of ignorance and arrogance.” close quote. If you are the parent of a Muslim-American, how do you explain his speech to your child? If you’re not a Muslim parent, how do you explain Trump’s speech to your child? You can’t. How do you look your son or daughter in the eye and explain that a man running for president is telling your classmates to be suspicious of you, to doubt your loyalty to this country based upon your religion? Solely on your religion, purely on your religion. You can’t explain it. I can’t explain it. it’s not possible to explain. Because this level of hate is not comprehensible. It’s incomprehensible that any presidential nominee would foster and promote systematic bigotry, as Trump often does. It’s reprehensible and un-American for the nominee of any major party or any party to declare millions of Americans guilty until proven innocent based on their religion.”
(h/t The Hill)
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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