Editor's Note: (Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM's radio's daily program "The Dean Obeidallah Show" and a columnist for The Daily Beast. Follow him @TheDeansreport. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.)
(CNN) Looks like some Donald Trump supporters are still holding a grudge against Mitt Romney for the way the 2012 GOP nominee criticized Trump during the campaign. The President-elect is considering Romney for secretary of state, and according to news reports, before these Trump insiders will support Romney, they want him to apologize for calling Trump such things as a "phony" and a "fraud."
Kellyanne Conway, one of Trump's top advisers, used the language of betrayal to describe how Trump supporters feel about Romney, telling CNN's Dana Bash, "I'm all for party unity, but I'm not sure we have to pay for that with the secretary of state position." After being criticized for assailing Romney publicly instead of conveying her thoughts to Trump privately, Conway tweeted that the "point is the volume & intensity of grassroots resistance to Romney is breathtaking."
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a big-time Trump supporter, even offered detailed instructions on what Romney must do before he could be forgiven: "There's only one way that I think Mitt Romney could even be considered for a post like that (secretary of state) and that is he goes to a microphone in a very public place and repudiates everything he said. ..."
Huckabee is on to something. If an apology is a prerequisite for supporters to forgive Romney, then the President-elect should follow this advice and publicly apologize to those groups of Americans he cruelly attacked if he wants us to forgive him. Actually, Trump should take Huckabee's exact instructions and go "to a microphone in a very public place" and make it clear that he's truly sorry for the vile words he said about so many communities, which were far worse than anything Romney said regarding the businessman.
So where should Trump start apologizing? Well, it would make sense for him to begin with the Latino community, given that he started demonizing members of it from the beginning of his campaign with his lie that Mexico was sending "rapists" and drug dealers to the United States.
Next, Trump can take a limo ride to Paterson, New Jersey, home of a sizable Muslim population, and apologize to Muslim Americans for the horrible comments he made about that community. For starters, Trump can acknowledge he lied when he told a rally crowd he saw "thousands" of Muslims cheering in New Jersey on 9/11. (A "pants on fire" falsehood, Politifact said.) And he should add his sincere regrets for stoking hate against Muslims with his irresponsible comments such as "Islam hates us."
Perhaps soon thereafter Trump can hold a press conference -- something he has not done since July -- and offer a heartfelt apology to the disabled community for mocking the physical appearance of journalist Serge Kovaleski, a man who suffers from a chronic condition that limits the movement of his arms. As a reminder, when Kovaleski refused to support Trump's lie that "thousands" of Muslims cheered in New Jersey on 9/11, Trump publicly mocked the reporter at a November 2015 campaign rally by mimicking his disability.
In transition: President-elect Trump
President-elect Donald Trump shakes hands with Martin Luther King III
after they met at Trump Tower in New York on Monday, January 16. Afterward, King said the meeting was "constructive" and that the two discussed the importance of voting accessibility. Trump didn't speak to the media about the meeting.
Trump speaks at Trump Tower in New York on Wednesday, January 11. In
his first news conference since winning the election, a combative Trump made clear he will not mute his style when he is inaugurated on January 20. He lashed out at media and political foes alike.
US Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump's nominee for attorney general, is sworn in during
his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday, January 10. Trump and his transition team are in the process of filling high-level positions for the new administration.
Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, arrives on Capitol Hill for a meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan on Monday, January 9. Kushner, a 35-year-old businessman-turned-political strategist,
will be senior adviser to the president, a senior transition official told CNN.
Trump gets on an elevator after speaking with reporters at New York's Trump Tower on January 9.
Trump stands with Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma, Asia's richest man, as they walk to speak with reporters at Trump Tower on January 9. Ma met with Trump to
tease plans for creating "one million" jobs in the United States. Trump praised Ma after the meeting as a "great, great entrepreneur and one of the best in the world."
Trump stands with legendary boxing promoter Don King after meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday, December 28. Trump and King
met to discuss the relationship between Israel and the United States.
Trump attends a meeting with Steve Bannon, chief White House strategist and senior counselor, at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Wednesday, December 21. Trump
spent the holidays in Mar-a-Lago.
Trump spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway talks to the press in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York on Thursday, December 15. Conway, who was Trump's campaign manager,
will work in his administration as "counselor to the president," it was announced on Thursday, December 22.
Trump
meets with technology executives in New York on Wednesday, December 14. From left are Jeff Bezos, chief executive officer of Amazon; Larry Page, chief executive officer of Google's parent company Alphabet; Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook; and Vice President-elect Mike Pence. The three main areas discussed were jobs, immigration and China, according to a source briefed on the meeting.
Three of Trump's children -- from left, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric -- attend the meeting with tech leaders on December 14.
Trump, Pence and House Speaker Paul Ryan wave during an event in West Allis, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, December 13. "He's like a fine wine," Trump said of Ryan at
the rally, which was part of his "thank you" tour to states that helped him win the election. "Every day that goes by, I get to appreciate his genius more and more."
Trump and rapper Kanye West speak to the press after
meeting at Trump Tower in New York on December 13. Trump called West a "good man" and told journalists that they have been "friends for a long time." West later tweeted that he met with Trump to discuss "multicultural issues."
Trump
selected former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, right, to be his nominee for energy secretary, which would make Perry the head of an agency he once suggested he would eliminate.
Trump has tapped ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson
to serve as secretary of state, the transition team announced December 13. Tillerson, seen here at a conference in 2015, has no formal foreign-policy experience, but he has built close relationships with many world leaders by closing massive deals across Eurasia and the Middle East on behalf of the world's largest energy company.
Trump waves during the Army-Navy football game, which was played in Baltimore on Saturday, December 10.
Trump shakes hands with Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad at an event in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday, December 8. Trump
re-introduced Branstad as his pick for US ambassador to China.
Trump greets retired Marine Gen. James Mattis at a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Tuesday, December 6. Trump said
he would nominate Mattis as his defense secretary.
Trump speaks to members of the media at Trump Tower in New York on December 6.
Trump visits the Carrier air-conditioning company in Indianapolis on Thursday, December 1.
Carrier announced that it had reached a deal with Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who is currently governor of Indiana, to keep about 1,000 of 1,400 jobs at its Indianapolis plant rather than move them to Mexico. The Carrier plant had been a theme of Trump's campaign promise to prevent more jobs from being outsourced to other countries.
Trump and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney
share a meal in New York on Tuesday, November 29. Romney was reportedly in the running for secretary of state.
Trump waves to a crowd at The New York Times building after meeting with some of the newspaper's reporters, editors and columnists on Tuesday, November 22.
Six takeaways from the meeting
Trump is flanked by Pence and Romney after a meeting in Bedminster Township, New Jersey, on Saturday, November 19.
"60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl
interviews Trump and his family at his New York home on Friday, November 11. It was Trump's first television interview since the election.
House Speaker Paul Ryan shows Trump and his wife, Melania, the Speaker's Balcony at the US Capitol on Thursday, November 10.
Trump walks with his wife and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell after a meeting at the US Capitol on November 10.
Trump shakes hands with President Barack Obama following
a meeting in the Oval Office on November 10. Obama told his successor that he wanted him to succeed and would do everything he could to ensure a smooth transition.
Trump delivers his acceptance speech during his election night event at the New York Hilton Midtown hotel on Wednesday, November 9.
And if Trump really wants to try to build goodwill, he should make a speech apologizing to the women of America. After all Trump not only bragged about sexually assaulting women in the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape, he mocked Carly Fiorina's face and, worse, he publicly shamed the 11 women who accused him of sexual misconduct by calling them all liars. True, some women were not troubled by these comments, but a public apology to the big chunk that were could possibly build bridges.
There are, of course, others Trump might want to consider apologizing to -- to prove he has changed as a person and learned right from wrong. For example, Mercutio Southall Jr., a Black Lives Matter protester attacked by Trump's fans at a campaign rally in November 2015. The day after the event, Trump stunningly defended his white supporters beating this man up.
No one can guarantee that a Trump apology will actually cause these people and communities to forgive him. For many Americans -- including myself -- it will take much more than just an "I'm sorry" by Trump to make up for the hate he spewed during his campaign, leaving in its wake a slimy tide of bigotry, xenophobia and misogyny in America.
If Trump truly wants to be the president of all the people, as he tells us, the first step is apologizing to those he wronged. Without that, he has no chance of ever being a president for all.