Harry Reid starts the scorched-earth campaign against Donald Trump
"First of all, there are a couple times every day since yesterday ... I have to remind myself that Donald Trump is the Republican nominee," the bewildered Reid said during a conference call with reporters on Thursday.
"It hasn't sunk in yet for me, but it's true. That's reality," he added.
And with that, Reid began to reprise his role as a Democratic attack dog, which he vibrantly embraced in the 2012 campaign against then-nominee Mitt Romney.
He went after Trump's wealth and his at-times inflammatory statements, as well as Republican leaders' refusal to confirm a Supreme Court nominee in favor of waiting for a theoretical Trump administration.
"Republicans want an anti-woman, anti-Hispanic, anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant billionaire who inherited his wealth," he said.
Adding that the Republican Party is now "Trump's party," Reid didn't sound optimistic about the potential for Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland to get confirmed now that Trump is set to be at the top of the Republican ticket.
Reid said that Chuck Grassley, the Iowa senator who heads the Senate Judiciary Committee, coming out in support of a potential Trump nomination to the court underlines how the GOP will hold firm in blocking Garland.
Said Reid: "I guess they want ... [Trump] determining the balance of the Supreme Court for the next generation."