In his first Thanksgiving video address to the nation, President-elect Donald Trump sought to mend relations in a vastly polarized nation and said he hoped Americans would come together to “heal our divisions.” In the two-minute video posted to YouTube, Trump acknowledged that the election had left hurt feelings but urged the public to work together and move forward.
“It is my prayer, that on this Thanksgiving, we begin to heal our divisions and move forward as one country, strengthened by a shared purpose and very, very common resolve,” Trump said.
“We have just finished a long and bruising political campaign. Emotions are raw and tensions just don’t heal overnight,” the next president continued.
“It doesn’t go quickly, unfortunately, but we have before us the chance now to make history together to bring real change to Washington, real safety to our cities, and real prosperity to our communities, including our inner cities. So important to me, and so important to our country. But to succeed, we must enlist the effort of our entire nation.
“This historic political campaign is now over and now begins a great national campaign to rebuild our country and to restore the full promise of America for all of our people.”
He then asked Americans to “join me in this effort. It’s time to restore the bonds of trust between citizens because when America is unified there is nothing beyond our reach. And I mean absolutely nothing.”
“Let us give thanks for all that we have and let us boldly face the exciting new frontiers that lie ahead. Thank you. God bless you and god bless America.”
As NBC noted “his videotaped words seem to act as a rhetorical overture to those still smarting from the presidential result of 2016”, and the tone for unity stands in direct contrast to “his remarks and actions since winning his long-shot presidential bid.”
Furthermore, Despite an ongoing feud with the press, Trump has been conciliatory in other respects. Earlier this week Trump backed off his campaign promise to investigate and jail Hillary Clinton.
During an interview Tuesday with the New York Times, which he had previously called “failing”, Trump would not say he was definitively taking the option of investigating his election opponent off the table, but offered that instead he wanted to focus on other things. “I want to move forward, I don’t want to move back. And I don’t want to hurt the Clintons, I really don’t. She went through a lot. And suffered greatly in many different ways,” Trump said in the lunchtime interview Tuesday.
via http://ift.tt/2fIUkr3 Tyler Durden