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"Republicans shouldn’t be surprised. They spent eight years laying the groundwork for the rise of Donald Trump,"Sen. Harry Reid said. | AP Photo Reid: With Trump, 'Republicans are reaping what they've sown'

Republicans should not be surprised by the rise of Donald Trump, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Wednesday on the floor. The party has created a "Frankenstein monster" in Donald Trump, he declared.

“Republicans have spent the last eight years stoking the fires of resentment and hatred, building Trump piece by piece," said Reid, referring to a Feb. 25 op-ed in The Washington Post by Robert Kagan, a former official in the Reagan White House.

The piece, titled, "Trump is the GOP’s Frankenstein monster. Now he’s strong enough to destroy the party," framed Reid's speech Wednesday, a day after Trump claimed victory in seven states on Super Tuesday.

"Today, the Republican establishment acts like it’s surprised by Donald Trump and his victories around the country They feign outrage that a demagogue spewing bile … is somehow winning in a party that has spent years telling immigrants are not welcome in America," Reid said, in reference to Trump's immigration plan to deport all undocumented immigrants and build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, making the Mexican government pay for it.

"They act surprised that Republican voters are flocking to a birther candidate, even as Republican congressional leaders continue to support a man who refuses to distance himself from the Ku Klux Klan," Reid continued, alluding to Trump's reluctance to disavow David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan in a CNN interview earlier this week, despite having done so two days earlier. Trump later blamed the incident on a "lousy earpiece" provided by the network, and again disavowed Duke in subsequent remarks.

Reid tore into Republicans for being outraged at Trump's success among Republican voters while they refuse to hear a Supreme Court nominee for President Barack Obama.

"Republicans shouldn’t be surprised. They spent eight years laying the groundwork for the rise of Donald Trump," Reid said. "The reality is that Republican leaders are reaping what they’ve sown.”

The Nevada Democrat ran through a litany of Republican obstruction in Congress, slamming leaders and rank-and-file members for their failure to cooperate or come to the table on issues as varied as financial reform to health care.

Republicans "have set the Trump standard," Reid said, going on to say that the Republican Party "has long used Islam to fearmonger. Now, Donald Trump is doing the same thing."

"The Republican Party has spent years railing against Latinos and immigrants, trying to incite fear," Reid said, referring to comments from Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) about undocumented immigrants with "calves the size of cantaloupes" in 2013.

It's not just Trump, Reid explained, arguing that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ben Carson "are saying basically the same thing," although more subtly. Reid also noted impishly that House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has said he would support Trump as the nominee and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has not said he would not vote for him, "publicly at least."

"Donald Trump is the standard bearer for the Republican Party. Republicans created him by spending seven years appealing to some of the darkest forces in America," Reid said. "Now, it's up to the Republicans and try undo what they've done by denouncing Donald Trump. It's time for Republicans to stop the Frankenstein they've created."

Reid concluded that if Republicans fail to do so, "he'll tear the party apart even more than it is now."