Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday the election of Donald Trump to the White House has sparked a wave of hate crimes across the nation and called on the New York Republican to rescind his recent appointment of Stephen Bannon as his chief strategist.

Mr. Reid said elected leaders must ensure that Mr. Trump’s victory does not send a message to children across the country that bullying and sexual assault are acceptable behavior. The Nevada Democrat said Mr. Trump could does his part by distancing himself from Mr. Bannon, who Mr. Reid described as a “champion of white supremacists.”

“If Trump is serious about seeking unity the first thing he should do is rescind his appointment of Steve Bannon,” Mr. Reid said on the Senate floor. “As long as a champion of racial division is a step away from the oval office, it will be impossible to take Trump’s efforts to heal the nation seriously.”

“So I say to Donald Trump, ‘Take responsibility. Rise to the dignity of the office of president of the United States instead of hiding being your Twitter account and show Americans that racism, bullying and bigotry have no place in the White House or in America,’” he said.

Moments later, Assistant Majority Leader John Cornyn of Texas pushed back against Mr. Reid, saying the Democrat’s latest “tirade” was “inappropriate” and stood in sharp contrast to the professional manner that Hillary Clinton and President Obama responded to the election.

“Surely he is entitled to his opinion, but he does nothing to contribute to the healing of our country after a very polarizing and hotly contested election by continuing to pile on the president-elect and his team,” Mr. Cornyn said.

Mr. Reid’s comments is disparaging to the voters that elected Mr. Trump into office, the Texas Republican said.

“We used to call people like that ‘sore losers,’” Mr. Cornyn said.

Mr. Reid has served in the Senate since 1987 and did not seek re-election this year. He has made a habit out of knocking his rivals from the floor of the Senate, including Mitt Romney and Charles and David Koch in previous elections.

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