At speech in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday night, Donald Trump told the audience that he has misspoken "in the heat of debate, and speaking on a multitude of issues," and that "believe it or not, I regret it." Speaking from a teleprompter for the third time this week, Trump did not specify which comments he regretted, but he did say, "I do regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain. Too much is at stake for us to be consumed with these issues."
Trump has been unapologetic after previous controversial comments, saying just 16 days ago about sparring with the parents of Iraq War casualty Humayun Khan, "I don't regret anything." The political press generally took a wait-and-see approach to whether this week and this speech marks the beginning of the long-expected Trump "pivot," but Never Trump Republicans seem pretty skeptical:
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The rest of the speech had some of his usual barbs about Clinton's honesty and Obama and Clinton at least allowing the Islamic State, as well as some sections that could have been written by Aaron Sorkin. As Washington Post editor Steven Ginsberg commented, "If Trump is like this until Nov. it will be a great test of when voters decide and when campaigns are won and lost."
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