--- title: Harry Reid Blames Republicans For Donald Trump's Rise description: Harry Reid delivered a blistering speech Thursday morning blaming Republican leadership for Donald Trump's rise. canonical: https://time.com/4263060/harry-reid-donald-trump-republicans/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-17T16:46:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T16:00:05.903Z article:section: Politics og:title: Harry Reid Blames Republicans For Donald Trump's Rise og:description: Harry Reid delivered a blistering speech Thursday morning blaming Republican leadership for Donald Trump's rise. og:url: https://time.com/4263060/harry-reid-donald-trump-republicans/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8652933c75e05629/69888b663c16394c5d45c78b/harry-reid-senate-minority-leader.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Harry Reid Delivers Major Address On Rise Of Donald Trump And GOP Politics og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Harry Reid Blames Republicans For Donald Trump's Rise twitter:description: Harry Reid delivered a blistering speech Thursday morning blaming Republican leadership for Donald Trump's rise. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8652933c75e05629/69888b663c16394c5d45c78b/harry-reid-senate-minority-leader.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Harry Reid Blames GOP's 'Mindless Behavior' for Trump's Rise  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 17, 2016 4:46 PM UTC  Senate Minority Leader Sen. Harry Reid speaks during a Center for American Progress forum in Washington, DC on March 17, 2016. Senate Minority Leader Sen. Harry Reid speaks during a Center for American Progress forum in Washington, DC on March 17, 2016.Alex Wong—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 17, 2016 4:46 PM UTC Harry Reid delivered a blistering speech Thursday morning blaming the Republican leadership for Donald Trump’s rise. Speaking at the Center for American Progress, the Senate Minority Leader said, “For eight years, \[Republican leaders\] drained all the oxygen from the policy debate in this country by replacing thoughtful engagement with resentment and hatred… This is exactly the kind of mindless behavior that has hollowed out our political debate and created the conditions for Trump to rise. Republican leaders created the drought conditions. Donald Trump simply struck the match.” Reid cited a myriad of examples of Democratic policies and proposals over the course of President Obama’s administration that he felt Republicans acted unfairly towards, including the Affordable Care Act, gun control, and most recently, Obama’s [nomination of Merrick Garland](http://time.com/4261007/merrick-garland-supreme-court-barack-obama/) to the Supreme Court. Reid said Republican obstructionism bred “resentment and hatred” in its party. “This resentment and hatred took three main forms,” he said. “First, rendering President Barack Obama “illegitimate.” Second, fear-mongering against Muslims. Third, sowing hatred against Latinos. These forces, which are all now synonymous with Donald Trump’s candidacy, were incubated by Republican leaders for the past eight years.” In the end, Reid called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan to denounce Trump, and for Congressional Democrats to push forward progressive policies. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4263060/harry-reid-donald-trump-republicans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4263060/harry-reid-donald-trump-republicans/"},"headline":"Harry Reid Blames GOP's 'Mindless Behavior' for Trump's Rise","datePublished":"2016-03-17T16:46:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:00:05.903Z","description":"\"Republican leaders created the drought conditions. 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