--- title: Donald Trump: Harry Reid Denounces President-elect description: Harry Reid broke his silence on Donald Trump's victory, denouncing Trump as a "sexual predator" who "lost the popular vote" canonical: https://time.com/4567860/donald-trump-harry-reid-statement/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-11T15:16:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T01:46:54.826Z article:section: Politics og:title: Harry Reid Dismisses Donald Trump: 'A Sexual Predator Who Lost the Popular Vote' og:description: "Winning the electoral college does not absolve Trump of the grave sins he committed" og:url: https://time.com/4567860/donald-trump-harry-reid-statement/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d175d33dbdfc24f/6988ae31524fc0b841dfa385/harry-reid.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: FILES-US-VOTE-EMAILS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Harry Reid Dismisses Donald Trump: 'A Sexual Predator Who Lost the Popular Vote' twitter:description: "Winning the electoral college does not absolve Trump of the grave sins he committed" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d175d33dbdfc24f/6988ae31524fc0b841dfa385/harry-reid.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Harry Reid Dismisses Donald Trump: 'A Sexual Predator Who Lost the Popular Vote'  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Nov 11, 2016 3:16 PM UTC  Harry Reid talks to the media after a policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Sept. 27, 2016. Harry Reid talks to the media after a policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Sept. 27, 2016.Yuri Gripas—AFP/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Nov 11, 2016 3:16 PM UTC Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid broke his silence Friday on [Donald Trump’s victory](http://time.com/4564440/donald-trump-wins-2/?xid=homepage&pcd=hp-magmod), denouncing Trump as a “sexual predator” who “lost the popular vote” and “emboldened the forces of hate and bigotry in America”—and who is now solely responsible for healing the country’s gaping political wounds. In [a fiery statement](http://www.reid.senate.gov/press%5Freleases/2016-11-11-reid-statement-on-the-election-of-donald-trump#.WCXalRIrLVq) released three days after the election, Reid, who is retiring, holds Trump accountable for his comments on the campaign trail that inspired “fear” in women, Hispanics and African-Americans in the U.S. While other leading Democrats, including [Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders](http://time.com/4565698/bernie-sanders-donald-trump-election/?iid=sr-link1) and [Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren](http://time.com/4566720/elizabeth-warren-donald-trump-stand-up-bigotry/?iid=sr-link1), have said they are tentatively and warily prepared to work with Trump on certain issues, Reid makes no such promise. “We as a nation must find a way to move forward without consigning those who Trump has threatened to the shadows,” Reid said. “Their fear is entirely rational, because Donald Trump has talked openly about doing terrible things to them. “If this is going to be a time of healing, we must first put the responsibility for healing where it belongs: at the feet of Donald Trump, a sexual predator who lost the popular vote and fueled his campaign with bigotry and hate,” he added. “Winning the electoral college does not absolve Trump of the grave sins he committed against millions of Americans. Donald Trump may not possess the capacity to assuage those fears, but he owes it to this nation to try.” Read Nevada Sen. Reid’s full statement below: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4567860/donald-trump-harry-reid-statement/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4567860/donald-trump-harry-reid-statement/"},"headline":"Harry Reid Dismisses Donald Trump: 'A Sexual Predator Who Lost the Popular Vote'","datePublished":"2016-11-11T15:16:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:46:54.826Z","description":"\"Winning the electoral college does not absolve Trump of the grave sins he committed\"","url":"https://time.com/4567860/donald-trump-harry-reid-statement/","keywords":["Congress","2016 Election topic","Harry Reid","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d175d33dbdfc24f/6988ae31524fc0b841dfa385/harry-reid.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d175d33dbdfc24f/6988ae31524fc0b841dfa385/harry-reid.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FILES-US-VOTE-EMAILS","caption":"FILES-US-VOTE-EMAILS","creditText":"Yuri Gripas—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4567860/donald-trump-harry-reid-statement/","name":"Harry Reid Dismisses Donald Trump: 'A Sexual Predator Who Lost the Popular Vote'"}}]}] ```