Harry Reid: Donald Trump Is the Republican Party’s Frankenstein

“Mr. President, here is something that appeared in the Washington Post headline: Trump is the GOP’s Frankenstein monster.'This was the headline of a Washington Post opinion piece authored by Robert Kagan, a former official in the Reagan State Department who is now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute.

It’s true. Donald Trump is the Republican Party’s Frankenstein. Republican have spent the past eight years stoking the fires of resentment and hatred, building Trump piece by piece.

Today, the Republican establishment acts like it is surprised by Trump. They feign outrage that a demagogue spewing [indecipherable] is somehow winning in a party that has spent years telling  immigrants they are not welcome in America. They act surprised that Republican voters are flocking to a birther candidate, even as Republican Congressional leaders continue to support a man who refuses to distance himself from the KKK. 

They express shock and outrage that Republican voters cheer Trump’s schoolyard taunts, even as they trounce the most common courtesies extended to every President; even as they deny a fair hearing to a President’s Supreme Court nominee for the first time ever, for the first time in history.

Republicans shouldn’t be surprised. They spent eight years laying the groundwork for the rise of  DonaldTrump. The reality is that Republican leaders are reaping what they have sown. As Mr. Kagan said in his Washington Post opinion piece: 'The party’s own political crimes are being punished in a bit of cosmic justice fit for a Greek tragedy.'"