Trump regrets offending people with how he speaks
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to
supporters at a rally on August 18, 2016 at the Charlotte
Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Trump
continues to campaign for his run for President of the United
States. PHOTO: Brian Blanco/Getty Images/AFP
Donald Trump made a rare act of contrition
Thursday, saying he regretted offending people with
his harsh way of speaking.
The Republican nominee made the gesture at his
first rally since ordering a shakeup in his campaign
to save his struggling White House bid.
“Sometimes in the heat of debate and speaking on a
multitude of issues, you don’t choose the right
words or you say the wrong thing,” Trump told a
rally in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“I have done that. And believe it or not, I regret it,”
he said, drawing laughs and applause from the
crowd. “I do regret it. Particularly, where it may
have caused personal pain.”
He added: “Too much is at stake for us to be
consumed with these issues, but one thing, I can
promise you this, I will always tell you the truth.”
The New York billionaire’s multiple self-inflicted
wounds of late have left him trailing in virtually
every battleground state. One of the biggest
missteps was clashing repeatedly with the parents
of an Army captain killed in Iraq.
Critics accused him last week of inciting violence
against his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton in
a remark about the right to bear arms, and media
reports have swirled about a campaign in crisis and
a candidate apparently incapable of reeling in crass
remarks.
Clinton leads Trump 47 percent to 41.2 percent,
according to the Real Clear Politics polling average,
following weeks of errors that have alienated
establishment Republicans and seen his own
supporters tear their hair out.
On Wednesday, Trump appointed right-wing news
executive Stephen Bannon as campaign CEO and
promoted pollster Kellyanne Conway to campaign
manager.
The change was seen as a demotion for campaign
chairman Paul Manafort, who has been pushing
Trump, among other changes, to use a teleprompter
when he gives speeches as a way to stay on message
— and not ad-lib himself into saying something
offensive or wrong.
Bannon’s Breitbart News website is virulently anti-
Clinton and his appointment was seen as Trump’s
way of thumbing his nose at Republican leaders
who have been urging him to tone down the shoot-
from-the-hip style of speech he used effectively in
the primaries.
On Thursday, Trump did speak with a teleprompter
and veered from the invisible screens only to
hammer away at a given point he wanted to make.
On substantive issues, he reached out to US
minorities, in particular blacks.
“Nearly four in ten African-American children are
living in poverty. I will not rest until children of
every color in this country are fully included in the
American Dream,” Trump said.
“If African-American voters give Donald Trump a
chance by giving me their vote, the result for them
will be amazing,” he said.
And he began his speech with a message to the
people of Louisiana, a state that has been hit with
historic flooding in recent days.
“We are one country, one people, and we will have
together one great future,” Trump told the crowd.
He still stressed his standard campaign pillars of
building a wall along the border with Mexico,
keeping out undocumented foreigners and opposing
international trade accords.
And he also depicted himself as an agent of change
compared to Clinton, whom he dismissed as an old-
fashioned Washington insider, while promising to
strengthen US ethics rules to fight influence
peddling.
Following the speech, Democrats scoffed at the idea
of a more tolerant and consensus-oriented Trump.
“That apology tonight is simply a well-written
phrase until he tells us which of his many offensive,
bullying and divisive comments he regrets — and
changes his tune altogether,” said Christina
Reynolds, a Clinton campaign spokeswoman.
But the “new” Trump — disciplined and serious —
was already gaining traction with fans.
customer service representative who was at the
speech.
But another supporter, 71-year old high school
principal Hans Peter Plotseneder, said he regretted
the candidate had lost “a little bit of personal
touch.”
“I hope he doesn’t get too PC,” he said.
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