Rep. Alan Grayson answers a question as he takes part in an open debate for the Senate on April 25 in Orlando, Fla. | AP Photo Harry Reid to Rep. Alan Grayson: 'I want you to lose' The Florida Senate candidate said in a statement afterward: “I have a low opinion of Reid’s low opinion.”

Rep. Alan Grayson angrily confronted Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on Wednesday, disrupting a meeting of the Congressional Progressive Caucus in front of dozens of staffers and members of Congress.

Grayson (D-Fla.), whose bid for the open Florida Senate seat Reid vehemently opposes, arrived at the meeting with Reid’s February statement in hand, according to two sources in the room. In that statement, Reid said Grayson has “no moral compass” and “used his status as a congressman to unethically promote his Cayman Islands hedge funds.”


As each member took a turn to speak to Reid, it was Grayson’s turn. He asked Reid if the Nevada senator knows who he is. After Reid answered in the affirmative, Grayson went on the attack.

“Say my name, senator. Say my name,” Grayson told Reid as Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) tried to shut down the confrontation. Ellison chided Grayson, asking him what he was doing and why he was distracting from the meeting’s goals.

Grayson responded by angrily waving a printout of Reid’s searing quote that called on Grayson to drop out of the primary race against Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.).

“Why’d you say that?” Grayson said, insisting Reid’s statement was false.

Reid calmly faced his inquisitor: “I want you to lose. It’s true.”

Ellison and other Progressive Caucus members then shut down the questioning, turning it over to Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.). One source in the room said that members rarely get meetings with Reid and were frustrated that they were unable to strategize over the Supreme Court, Donald Trump’s nomination and other issues because of the outburst.

Grayson is essentially ripping a page from Sen. Ted Cruz’s playbook in trying to win the nomination for the open Senate seat. He’s portraying Murphy as a generic Democrat whom people like Reid are supporting because he’ll go along with party leadership.

In a gaggle with reporters after the conflict blew up and sent shock waves through both sides of the Capitol, Grayson made clear that he believes a public battle with Reid — a “smearmonger” in his view — is to his advantage.

“Let’s face it, I’m not the establishment candidate. The establishment wants somebody who is a callow tool,” Grayson said. “As far as I can tell, the only criteria that the Democratic establishment has among Senate candidates this year is obedience. In that regard, perhaps I fall short.”

In a separate statement, Grayson called Murphy a “Republican sock puppet.” Murphy responded that Grayson is acting a lot like Donald Trump and is hijacking the caucus to further his own ends.

“The Progressive Caucus is a place to fight for progressive values, not fight for Alan Grayson’s narcissistic desire to hear someone say his name,” Murphy said.

The primary for the Democratic nomination is the nastiest the party has seen this cycle, with the hard-fought contest in Pennsylvania appearing civil when compared to the scorched earth left by the battles in Florida. And the stakes are enormously high as the party tries to capitalize on Trump’s nomination in diverse Florida.

The Florida Senate race, precipitated by Marco Rubio’s retirement, is a must-win for Senate control. But Grayson threatens to upend those plans for Democrats, who say Murphy is more electable and worry that Grayson could gift a winnable seat to the GOP. Liberal groups like the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America have backed Grayson, while Reid and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have endorsed Murphy.

Reid is clearly having no second thoughts about working against Grayson in the race for a crucial Senate seat.

“Alan Grayson decided to be disruptive, to the embarrassment of his fellow colleagues,” said Kristen Orthman, a spokeswoman for Reid. “Sen. Reid took the opportunity to express his low opinion of Congressman Grayson to his face and remind him that the reason Sen. Reid has said that Grayson is under ethics investigation and appears to be running a Cayman Islands hedge fund from his congressional office in order to line his own pockets is because these things are true, as established by 74 pages’ worth of evidence from the Congressional Ethics Committee.”

Heather Caygle contributed to this report.

