I can even deal with the terse first apology and then the second, more specific apology. I don't even have a problem with the time frame involved.
What did it for me was the BET interview. He crossed the Rubicon right then, imho.
We can't have a SML who's going to trade our (long fought and well deserved) agenda for promises of personal "forgivness."
No Way.
I think he alienated everyone at that point. No one could defend that.
He took way too long, in my opinion--when you screw up like that, a quick and complete apology on Day One or Day Two, as your first response, will save you all manner of grief on Day Thirteen. The several efforts to apologize didn't help, either--it looked like he was unable to be straightforward with the American public, and that always looks bad.
That did me in as well.
It was a disgusting thing to do.
Trent could have fought, he could have turned this into a national debate on race, and racism as a blackmail card. He could have discussed Jackson's "Hymietown" comment, Sharpton's Tawana Bradley incident, the "white nigger" episode (and yes, if it's OK for a US Senator to use that word, then it's OK for me to use that word), and FOUGHT for himself.
Instead, what we get is the nation's top Republican selling out the GOP agenda, and apologizing to anyone darker than George Hamilton who crossed his path.