Mass Shooting in Orlando and Donald Trump's Rhetoric

Floor Speech

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Mr. REID. Madam President, 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, nor do we want to hear scapegoating. It is 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 as terrible a leader as he is a businessman. Trump proved he is not the person to lead our Nation through difficult times or, in fact, anytime. Trump failed the most important of tests for a Presidential candidate: how to respond in a crisis. When our citizens are under attack, how do you respond? Donald Trump failed that test. Trump proved he is not the person to lead our Nation through a crisis. He is not Commander in Chief material--underlined and underscored.

It doesn't matter what the problem has been, Trump has failed. Trump isn't the person we want to have his finger on the nuclear button because he is clearly incapable of that responsibility. That is not just me saying it; even the junior Senator from Florida has questioned whether Trump can be trusted with such an enormous obligation. But the fact that Donald Trump can't be trusted with the nuclear codes hasn't stopped Senator Rubio or many other Republicans from endorsing Trump for the highest office in the land. There is absolutely no question-- none--that Donald Trump is not capable enough or experienced enough to have this high-level responsibility. We expect more from a Commander in Chief.

Here is how Trump responded to Sunday's massacre--classic Trump. Within hours of the shooting, Trump first congratulated himself and then began to immediately denigrate Muslim Americans. Trump then suggested that our President and one of Secretary Clinton's aides may be in league with Islamic terrorists. Let me repeat that. Donald Trump suggested that President Obama and one of Secretary Clinton's aides may be in league with Islamic terrorists. Is that 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, 1 day after the mass shooting--it is the worst in modern American history--Trump, the standard bearer for the Republican Party, went even further. Trump delivered one of the most un-American speeches ever from a major party nominee--ever. Trump was hateful and vicious. He was Donald Trump. He was 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? Their religion. He denigrated Muslim Americans--all 8 million of them. The Republican nominee suggested that all Muslim Americans were complicit in the Orlando shooting, saying that they, Muslim Americans, ``know what's going on.'' Trump also renewed his call for a ban on all Muslims coming into the United States. The Trump speech was, as one news outlet called it, ``a dangerous mix of ignorance and arrogance.''

If you are the parent of a Muslim American, how do you explain his speech to your child? If you are 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 and to doubt your loyalty based purely on your religion? You can't explain it. I can't explain it. It is not possible to explain because this level of hate is not comprehensible. It is incomprehensible that any Presidential nominee would foster and promote systemic bigotry, as Trump often does. It is reprehensible and un-American for the nominee of any major party or any party to declare millions of Americans guilty until proven innocent purely by virtue of their religion.

These are frightening times, and I understand that, and Trump's fear and paranoia are making us feel less safe. Trump is fanning the flames of violence and menace. There have already been reports of threats and obscenities being yelled at Muslims in Florida, Chicago, Seattle, and all across the country. Mosques all around the country have been threatened. Donald Trump's rhetoric has been encouraging this scary behavior.

What we have seen from Trump in the 2 days since the Orlando shooting is rank and reckless, but no one should be surprised--this is vintage Donald Trump.

Contrast Donald Trump's actions with the response from our Nation's Muslim communities. Muslim leaders all over America were some of the first to condemn this attack and rally in support of the LGBT community, and the Muslim community has taken part in the blood drive to help victims of the attack, as they always step forward.

But while Americans within the Muslim and LGBT communities are trying to unite Americans in the aftermath of Sunday's shooting, Donald Trump is doing just the opposite. He is doing what he is so good at doing-- dividing. Then, in the wake of this awful massacre, Trump tried to cast himself as a friend of the LGBT community. How about that? But it didn't take minutes for a spokesman from the Human Rights Campaign, the Nation's largest gay rights group, to state that Trump is ``no friend'' of the community. What does this say about the Republican Party, that they are endorsing this vile man? It doesn't say much. What does it say about Republican Senators who are backing Trump for President? Not much. What does it say about the Senate Republican leadership, about the Senate Republican leader, who is supporting Trump? Not much. Every time the senior Senator from Kentucky reaffirms his commitment to support Trump he is validating Trump's behavior. He is giving credence to Donald Trump's rabid anti-everything speech--his un-American stance against Muslims, women, Latinos, Blacks, people with disabilities, immigrants, veterans, and others.

If the Senators I have mentioned accept this kind of rhetoric as part of our political dialogue, they are all guilty of normalizing hatred. Senate Republicans are doing just that. When the leader of a major party is promoting unhinged conspiracy theories and calling for hatred against his fellow Americans based solely on their religion, we are in dangerous and uncharted waters. We must make clear that Donald Trump does not speak for us. I am trying to do that. We must stand arm in arm with our Muslim allies around the world who have been victims of terrorism, who say to the radicals: not in my name, not in my name. Remember, Muslims around the world are helping us defeat the terrorists. Who has suffered so much because of this crazy brand of hatred? Who has suffered more than anyone else? Muslims. We don't know how many are dead in Iraq following the invasion--half a million? We know there are at least 300,000 in Syria--Muslims. We must stand arm in arm with our Muslim allies in the world who are victims of this terrorism.

Any Republican who cherishes the American values of religious freedom and tolerance should immediately do the same and say: not in my name. Republican Senators should say: not in my name. Republicans must do what they haven't had the courage to do--stand up to Trump and say: No more, stop it. He is not a leader. He is unfit to be our President and unfit to stand for the values on which this great country was founded.

As for the Republican leader in the Senate, Senator McConnell should be the first to condemn Trump's hateful rhetoric and reject his Presidential candidacy. Let's hope the senior Senator from Kentucky can bring himself to do just that and do it soon.

Madam President, what is the business of the day?

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