This morning Nevada Senator Harry Reid posted a press release on his site. The Senate minority leader did not hold back on his feelings about Donald Trump's ascendency to the presidency.

“I have personally been on the ballot in Nevada for 26 elections and I have never seen anything like the reaction to the election completed last Tuesday. The election of Donald Trump has emboldened the forces of hate and bigotry in America.

“White nationalists, Vladimir Putin and ISIS are celebrating Donald Trump’s victory, while innocent, law-abiding Americans are wracked with fear – especially African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Muslim Americans, LGBT Americans and Asian Americans. Watching white nationalists celebrate while innocent Americans cry tears of fear does not feel like America.

“I have heard more stories in the past 48 hours of Americans living in fear of their own government and their fellow Americans than I can remember hearing in five decades in politics. Hispanic Americans who fear their families will be torn apart, African Americans being heckled on the street, Muslim Americans afraid to wear a headscarf, gay and lesbian couples having slurs hurled at them and feeling afraid to walk down the street holding hands. American children waking up in the middle of the night crying, terrified that Trump will take their parents away. Young girls unable to understand why a man who brags about sexually assaulting women has been elected president.

It's a wrenching statement. Reid goes on to condemn the messages of bigotry and sexism that characterized Trump's campaign, and calls for support of the marginalized communities that have been disenfranchised by the results of this election. He also emphasizes his disgust at the press shifting its focus to puff pieces about the transition of power and the upcoming Trump inauguration. Reid brings it home with this:

“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. 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.

“If Trump wants to roll back the tide of hate he unleashed, he has a tremendous amount of work to do and he must begin immediately.”

These are powerful words that provide a stark contrast to the conciliatory concessions offered thus far by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. They're one of the few comforts that have appeared in this horrible news week.

Read the whole statement here. And keep giving ’em hell, Harry.