Reid—a chief critic Trump—said he has heard stories or received messages from people since Tuesday that are "filled with fear."
"Watching white nationalists celebrate while innocent Americans cry tears of fear does not feel like America," he said. “I have heard more stories in the past 48 hours of Americans living in fear of their own government and their fellow Americans than I can remember hearing in five decades in politics."
Reid's statement is a break with other top Democrats, who have offered a tentative olive branch Trump to try to find common ground, while pledging to stand up to him on areas they disagree. Reid is retiring, and won't be in the Senate when Trump takes over the White House next year.
But he added Friday that the country "must find a way to move forward without consigning those who Trump has threatened to the shadows" and appeared to blame the media for articles that "breathlessly obsess over inauguration preparation" arguing it normalizes Trump's rhetoric.
Reid pointed to Trump, because of a string of controversial comments, as the person most responsible for getting the country past a divisive presidential campaign.
“If this is going to be a time of healing, we must first put the responsibility for healing where it belongs: at the feet of Donald Trump, a sexual predator who lost the popular vote and fueled his campaign with bigotry and hate," he said. "Winning the electoral college does not absolve Trump of the grave sins he committed against millions of Americans. Donald Trump may not possess the capacity to assuage those fears, but he owes it to this nation to try. "