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Keller @ Large: Sucker-Punch Apology Shows Humility, Humanity

BOSTON (CBS) - In his victory speech on election night, President-elect Donald Trump said "It is time for America to bind the wounds of division," a commendable sentiment that he has repeated several times since. And now Trump has a golden opportunity to at least symbolically act on those words.

John McGraw Rakeem Jones
John McGraw sucker-punched protester Rakeem Jones in March 2016. (WBZ-TV)

Perhaps you remember the appalling video from a Trump rally in North Carolina last March, where 79-year-old John McGraw sucker-punched protester Rakeem Jones as he was being led out of the hall. McGraw was arrested and charged with assault and battery, and the incident came to symbolize the ugly polarization and violent atmospherics of this campaign.

Nine months later, McGraw and Jones met in court, and here's what happened.

"We're caught up in political mess today and you and me, we gotta heal our county," McGraw said to Jones before they shook hands and hugged.

McGraw got one year of unsupervised probation. And while Jones noted he has friends who've gotten stiffer sentences for less, he accepted the apology gracefully.

John McGraw Rakeem Jones
John McGraw and Rakeem Jones hug in court after the apology. (WBZ-TV)

If the president-elect really means it about promoting national reconciliation, he should invite both of these men to Trump Tower immediately for a meeting, invite the cameras in, and offer their humility and humanity as an example of how he intends to roll and what he wants for our country's future.

Sometimes, Trump himself models similar sentiments, as he did when he invited harsh campaign critics from the high-tech world to a meeting where he offered to do all he can to help them. Other times, he seems to revel in revenge, spite and fanning the flames.

Which Trump will we get come January? Stay tuned.

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