Comments Thursday by Donald Trump about regrets he has over some remarks he has made during the presidential campaign have shocked some and surprised many.
Trump told supporters at a campaign stop in Charlotte, N.C., that he regrets things he’s said that "may have caused personal pain."
"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," the Republican nominee said. "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."
Trump did not elaborate on which specific remarks he regrets.
The speech came just hours before Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, resigned his position, saying he doesn’t want to be a distraction to the candidate.
Here’s what some media outlets are saying about Trump’s remarks.
He expressed regret
“Donald Trump on Thursday shelved his guiding mantra -- never back down, never apologize -- and did what he has refused to do in public in more than a year of campaigning. He expressed regret. Trump, reading from prepared remarks Thursday night, acknowledged that he sometimes says "the wrong thing" in an astonishing act of contrition that signaled Trump's willingness to break from his characteristic brashness and bare-knuckles style that carried him to victory in the Republican primaries, but risks dooming him in the general election.”
Did elaborate on what he regrets
“Donald J. Trump went Thursday night where Donald J. Trump, the candidate, seemed to have never gone before: He expressed broad regret about some of his caustic language during the campaign. Precisely which words does Mr. Trump regret? He did not specify. But his speech in Charlotte, N.C., his third using a teleprompter this week, was praised by some of his critics as the best of his campaign. “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,” Mr. Trump said. “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.”
He’s ‘too honest’ at times
“Ordinarily, when Donald Trump says something unexpected, he’s managed to insult some new group of Americans. Last night in North Carolina, however, the Republican presidential hopeful surprised by doing largely the opposite: as NBC News’ report noted, Trump “expressed regret and admitted wrong doing – though it’s unclear exactly for what.” Trump, who’s been repeatedly caught making demonstrably false statements, added that he can sometimes be “too honest.”
A restart of the restart
“In an effort to save his flagging presidential candidacy, and two days after shaking up his campaign, Donald Trump expressed "regret" for sometimes saying the wrong thing and causing "pain." “
Striking a compassionate tone
“Donald Trump struck a compassionate tone at a rally Thursday night, saying he “regrets” some of his past statements. … His speech Thursday came days after a campaign shake-up which brought on Stephen Bannon, formerly of the right-wing website Breitbart News, to be campaign CEO. Trump opened his talk with an appeal to American unity, a theme he carried throughout the evening. “When one state hurts, we all hurt,” he said of the flooding in Louisiana.”
Turning the page
“Donald Trump, bolstered by an overhauled campaign staff brought on to turn the page of his troubled candidacy, tried something totally new Thursday night: He expressed regret. … Mr. Trump didn’t indicate which of his many provocative comments he regrets. One of his most recent and protracted controversies arose from his criticism of a family of a Muslim U.S. soldier who died in Iraq.”
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