Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid Harry Mason ReidOn The Trail: Battle over Ginsburg replacement threatens to break Senate Democrats fear Russia interference could spoil bid to retake Senate Graham signals support for confirming a Supreme Court nominee this year MORE (D-Nev.) on Tuesday said Republicans running for the White House are scared of taking on presidential hopeful Donald Trump Donald John TrumpBubba Wallace to be driver of Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin NASCAR team Graham: GOP will confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the election Southwest Airlines, unions call for six-month extension of government aid MORE.

Reid said Trump's unflagging support in the polls is making him immune to criticism.

“Why do the Republicans who are running for president never criticize him on anything?” Reid asked during a taped interview in the Lyndon B. Johnson Room near the Senate floor, according to CNN.

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“They’re afraid to,” he said of the GOP’s 2016 presidential field. “He’s speaking for them. He just does it in a different tone and different language.”

Reid argued on Tuesday that Trump is surging in voter support nationwide because he is representing the views of GOP voters on the national stage.



“He is speaking to their hearts — that’s what they believe,” he said of Trump’s political stances on immigration, foreign policy and government.



“Finally, they have got somebody that is going directly to them,” Reid said. “They agree with him.”



“That’s why he’s resounding to his benefit,” the Nevada lawmaker added. “They like what he says.”



Reid charged on Tuesday that the 2016 presidential field had only challenged Trump once, after he mocked Sen. John McCain John Sidney McCainBiden's six best bets in 2016 Trump states Replacing Justice Ginsburg could depend on Arizona's next senator The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Washington on edge amid SCOTUS vacancy MORE (R-Ariz.) during a forum in July. Trump questioned McCain's military service, saying he prefers heroes who "weren't captured" — a reference to the senator's time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.



“The only time they’ve ever jumped on him is the time he said John McCain is not a war hero,” Reid said on Tuesday.



“That’s a pretty easy one because everyone knows John McCain is a war hero,” he added. “Where are they on all of his other slanderous statements?”



Reid additionally dismissed former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s efforts to attack Trump on the campaign trail.



“If he has, no one’s noticed,” he said of Bush’s verbal jabs at Trump this summer.



Reid’s remarks come as Trump is leading the race for next year’s GOP presidential nomination across multiple national polls. The brazen billionaire has weathered repeated criticism since launching his Oval Office bid in June, and now has a solid lead in all of the early-voting states.

- This story was updated at 3:50 p.m.