Platform of the Republican Party

Floor Speech

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Mr. REID. Mr. President, Donald Trump is standing on the platform of hate--I am sorry to say hate that the Republican Party has built for him.

It was just last week that I came to the floor of the Senate and said the Republican Party is running on a platform of hate. Yesterday Donald Trump provided the strongest evidence yet that it is true. Trump's proposal to bar Muslims from entering this country is hateful, despicable, and really vile. We are a country founded on religious liberty, not a country that imposes religious tests. Trump's statement is a slap in the face to the millions of peace-loving Muslims living here and to those who want to travel and live here. We welcome them all, and to them I say: Donald Trump is not America.

Sadly, however, Donald Trump has become the Republican Party, because it is just not him--many of the leading candidates for the Republican nomination have said the same hateful things, especially about Muslims. Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz proposed religious tests for refugees. You can't condemn Trump when you want to impose a religious test on women and children fleeing death and persecution. Ben Carson has called Muslims ``rabid dogs.'' Chris Christie said they should be tracked.

Today, Donald Trump offered the only true statement he has made for some time, referring to some of his fellow Republicans, those running against him for President. He said:

They have been condemning almost everything I say and then they come to my side.

That is disturbing, but it is true. Republican candidates condemn Trump's remarks and then adopt his racist policies as their own.

We shouldn't try to fool ourselves: This sort of racism has been prevalent in Republican politics for decades. Trump is just saying out loud what other Republicans merely suggest.

Political leaders must condemn these hateful, un-American statements with their words and their actions. Silence only empowers bigots.

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