Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said he regretted causing pain to people by not choosing the "right words" sometimes and uttering "wrong thing" even as his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton termed the statement as a mere "well-written phrase".
"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," Trump said at an election rally in Charlotte, North Carolina.
He also said that he is not a politician.
"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 more difficult," he said.
"But one thing I can promise you is this: I will always tell you the truth. I speak the truth for all of you, and for everyone in this country who doesn't have a voice. I speak the truth on behalf of the factory worker who lost his or her job," Trump asserted.
Trump said his only interest is the American people. "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," he said.
In a late night statement, the Clinton Campaign said he has much for which he should apologize.
"Donald Trump literally started his campaign by insulting people. He has continued to do so through each of the 428 days from then until now, without shame or regret. We learned tonight that his speech writer and teleprompter knows he has much for which he should apologize," said Christina Reynolds from the Clinton Campaign.
"But that apology tonight is simply a well-written phrase until he tells us which of his many offensive, bullying and divisive comments he regrets—and changes his tune altogether," Reynolds said.
"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?" he asked.
"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?" he asked.
Trump alleged that Clinton's mistakes destroy innocent lives, sacrifice national security, and betray the working families of this country.
"Please remember this. I will never put personal profit before national security. I will never leave our border open to appease donors and special interests. I will never support a trade deal that kills American jobs. I will never put the special interests before the national interest. I will never put a donor before a voter, or a lobbyist before a citizen," he said.
"Instead, I will be a champion for the people," he said.
"The establishment media doesn’t cover what really matters in this country, or what's really going on in people’s lives. They will take words of mine out of context and spend a week obsessing over every single syllable, and then pretend to discover some hidden meaning in what I said," he alleged.
In a strong message to terrorists planning attacks against the US, Trump vowed to "find and destroy" them and asserted that he will focus on "radical Islamic terrorism".
"I have a message for the terrorists trying to kill our citizens: we will find you, we will destroy you, and we will win," Trump said.
"On terrorism, we are going to end the era of nation-building and instead focus on destroying ISIS and Radical Islamic terrorism," he said.
"We will use military, cyber and financial warfare and work with any partner in the world, and the Middle East, that shares our goal of defeating terrorism," Trump said.
He said that if he wins in the November general election, he will temporarily suspend immigration from any place where adequate screening cannot be performed.
"All applicants for immigration will be vetted for ties to radical ideology, and we will screen out anyone who doesn't share our values and love our people. Anyone who believes Sharia law supplants American law will not be given an immigrant visa," Trump said.
"If you want to join our society, then you must embrace our society, our values and our tolerant way of life. Those who believe in oppressing women, gays, Hispanics, African-Americans and people of different faiths are not welcome to join our country," he said.
"We will promote our America values, our American way of life, and our American system of government which are all the best in the world," he said.
Trump also alleged that his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton is "running to become America's Angela Merkel". "We have seen how much crime and how many problems that's caused the German people. We have enough problems already, we don't need another one," he said.
"On trade, we are going to renegotiate NAFTA, withdraw from the TPP, stand up to China on our terrible trade agreement, and protect every last American job. Hillary Clinton has supported all of the major trade deals that have stripped this country of its jobs and its wealth," he said.
"On taxes, we are going to massively cut tax rates for workers and small businesses – creating millions of new good paying jobs. We are going to get rid of regulations that send jobs overseas and we are going to make it easier for young Americans to get the credit they need to start a small business and pursue their dreams," Trump said.
The Republican presidential nominee who has a very popularity ratings among the African Americans sought one chance from them.
"African-American voters give Donald Trump a chance by giving me their vote, the result for them will be amazing. Look at how badly things are going under decades of Democratic leadership -- look at the schools, look at the 58 per cent of young African-Americans not working. It is time for change," he said.
"What do you have to lose by trying something new? -- I will fix it. This means so much to me, and I will work as hard as I can to bring new opportunity to places in our country which have not known opportunity in a very long time," Trump said.
"Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party have taken African-American votes totally for granted. Because the votes have been automatically there, there has been no reason for Democrats to produce," he said.
IMAGE: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to supporters at a rally on August 18, 2016 at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Photograph: Brian Blanco/Getty Images