Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Politics:

Reid: Trump ‘not as bad as I thought,’ but nation still fearful of him

Trump v Reid

AP Photos

Donald Trump and Harry Reid both have their harsh critics, and Nevada’s congressional candidates are trying to use that ire against each other.

In an NPR interview and in guest commentary published in the New York Times, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid reiterated that President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory had made Americans fearful and warned Republicans against repealing the Affordable Care Act.

However, Reid told NPR that Trump was “not as bad as I thought he would be.”

“We heard from Trump that one of the first things he was going to do is repeal the executive order (barring deportation of Dreamers),” he said. “In an interview he had with Time magazine in the last day or two, he said, 'Nah, I'm not going to do that' — those young people deserve to stay here. He's not going to prosecute Hillary Clinton criminally, as he said he would do. Obviously he didn't believe in all of the stuff he said — which is a step in the right direction.”

But Reid acknowledged that he was feeling anxiety over Trump’s administration, even though Trump had held fundraisers for him and had sent him a handwritten note after Reid’s last election victory saying, “You’re awesome.”

“It’s not as though I have hate in my soul for Donald Trump,” Reid said. “I hope beyond all that he does well. It’s important to the stability of this great nation we have. And I’m hopeful … he will lessen his rhetoric and work toward a safer, more productive America.”

Reid gave his final speech on the Senate floor today. He’s leaving after 30 years in the Senate, having made a surprise announcement last year that he would not to seek a sixth term.

In his guest commentary, Reid reminded Republicans that their candidate lost the popular vote by “nearly 3 million votes” and said their zeal to repeal Obamacare was a “dramatic misreading of your mandate.”

“It will lead you into a quagmire that will cause pain for millions of Americans and bedevil you for the next four years,” he wrote. “Repealing Obamacare will take health insurance away from millions of Americans — as many as 30 million, by one recent estimate. It will raise premiums and throw health insurance markets into disarray. Public support for repeal is low, and support for repeal without a replacement is in the basement.”

Reid offered a warning to Republicans based on his experience in the Senate.

“If you continue down this path, you will be letting your reflexive opposition to President Obama’s legacy cloud your judgment,” he said. “I was in the Senate when President George W. Bush misread his mandate and sought to privatize Social Security. His administration never recovered.”

He told NPR that Republicans were in for a “rude awakening” if they repealed the ACA.

“I don't think they want to be those who say that if you have a disability, you can't get insurance — the way it used to be before Obamacare,” he said. “We have now the highest (number of insured people) in the history of our country. They repeal Obamacare at their peril.”

Reid encouraged Democrats to be open to working with Trump’s administration and not adopt the obstructionist stance that Republicans took on President Barack Obama.

“No, I do not think Republicans should be treated like they treated us,” Reid said. “However, I think we have an obligation to make sure that we use all the rules of the Senate to stop stuff that is really bad. If there’s something they’re going to do that’s good, we’ll work with them. And we’ve done that. And I think that’s the attitude that should be used in the next Congress.”

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