History of the political apology
These tactics used to manipulate messages are not new. There are several times where U.S. presidents have attempted to restore their image by reconciliation, which may qualify as apologetic rhetoric ("Revisiting ‘The Age of Apology’” 2). For example, George W. Bush tried to restore his national reputation after the tragic incidents at the Iraqi prison Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo (click here for more information on incident); Bill Clinton attempted to repair his image after the Monica Lewinsky Scandal (click here for more information on incident); and Richard Nixon gave a speech in regards to the Watergate incident in 1972 (click here for more information on incident) (2). There have also been similar situations in Canada (click here to read about previous Canadian political incidents where a public apology was made).
There’s an issue with accepting these political statements as apologies during such crises. The issue is that there isn’t any real effort in making amendments with the direct victims, rather there is use of persuasive speech that aims to gain a positive reputation to serve a political agenda. In Trump’s case, he does not apologize to to the women he’s insulted nor does he refer to what he’s apologizing for; rather, his objectives are to gain supporters who will vote for him in the election.
Here's another example: Hillary Clinton making a public apology for the email scandal during her presidential campaign in 2016 (0:30).
