Today on Meet the Press, Chuck Todd asks a very good question. Why, considering Donald Trump’s behavior during the campaign, his attack on a federal judge over his poor choice of parents, his attack on prisoners of war as loser, his belittling of a family who lost a son in combat, why, he asks, is this Trump’s first apology.

Former New York City mayor turned Donald Trump fluffer, Rudy Giuliani, offered in one of the most pathetic defenses ever.

Transcript via The Hill because I’m not going to take the time:

“I think when he heard them, he was shocked. I’m not going to say that he didn’t remember them, but they probably weren’t at the top of his mind,” Giuliani, a Trump adviser and former New York City mayor, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“And when he was confronted with it, he was pretty darn shocked that he had said such terrible things, and he feels terrible about it.”

“He feels terrible for his family and how embarrassing it is for them. He feels terrible from his own point of view. But he also realizes he has a responsibility. And I think the last 14 months have driven that into him.”

This is essentially bulls***. Perhaps for the first time in his life, Trump has encountered something that he simply can’t brazen his way through. For a while yesterday it looked like his own running mate might step aside. He apologized under duress. The man is incapable of introspection or empathy. He can’t be embarrassed because he has no sense of shame and no respect for anyone else.