Donald Trump Apologizes … Sort Of

During his speech Thursday night in Charlotte, N.C., Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump did something many of his critics said he was incapable of doing.

He apologized.

Well, he sort of apologized. And, when he was done apologizing, he immediately turned the tables on his Democratic Party counterpart, Hillary Clinton.

“As you know, I am not a politician,” he said. “I have worked in business, creating jobs and rebuilding neighborhoods my entire adult life. I’ve never wanted to learn the language of the insiders, and I’ve never been politically correct—it takes far too much time, and can often make things more difficult.

“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. I have done that, and I regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain. Too much is at stake for us to be consumed with these issues.”

Then, he turned the tables on Clinton, asking when she would be apologizing for her many mistakes. And, he recounted some of the more memorable ones for the audience.

“So while sometimes I can be too honest, Hillary Clinton is the exact opposite: She never tells the truth. One lie after another, and getting worse each passing day.

“The American people are still waiting for Hillary Clinton to apologize for all of the many lies she’s told to them, and the many times she’s betrayed them.

“Tell me, has Hillary Clinton ever apologized for lying about her illegal email server and deleting 33,000 emails?

“Has Hillary Clinton apologized for turning the State Department into a pay-for-play operation where favors are sold to the highest bidder?

“Has she apologized for lying to the families who lost loved ones at Benghazi?

“Has she apologized for putting Iran on the path to nuclear weapons?

“Has she apologized for Iraq? For Libya? For Syria? Has she apologized for unleashing ISIS across the world?

“Has Hillary Clinton apologized for the decisions she made that have led to so much death, destruction and terrorism? …

“Hillary Clinton owes the State of North Carolina a very big apology, and I think you’ll get that apology around the same time you’ll get to see her 33,000 deleted emails.”

The heart of Trump’s speech, however, was focused on restoring the American Dream. In so doing, the Republican nominee opened up about why he decided to run in the first place.

“Every day I think about how much is at stake for this country. This isn’t just the fight of my life, it’s the fight of our lives—together—to save our country.

“I refuse to let another generation of American children be excluded from the American Dream. Our whole country loses when young people of limitless potential are denied the opportunity to contribute their talents because we failed to provide them the opportunities they deserved. Let our children be dreamers too.

“Our whole country loses every time a kid doesn’t graduate from high school, or fails to enter the workforce or, worse still, is lost to the dreadful world of drugs and crime.

“When I look at the failing schools, the terrible trade deals, and the infrastructure crumbling in our inner cities, I know all of this can be fixed—and it can be fixed very quickly.

“In the world I come from, if something is broken, you fix it.

“If something isn’t working, you replace it.

“If a product doesn’t deliver, you make a change.

“I have no patience for injustice, no tolerance for government incompetence, no sympathy for leaders who fail their citizens.

“That’s why I am running: to end the decades of bitter failure and to offer the American people a new future of honesty, justice and opportunity. A future where America, and its people, always—and I mean always—come first.”