He did not insult the prophet. He quoted someone who said something that they did not like, and professional agitators stirred up trouble, aided and abetted by Catholic-hating media.
The Pope and Manuel Paleologos, whom he quoted, both spoke the truth. Islam “can’t handle the truth.” Too bad the Pope then backed down.
Why apologize for telling the truth? Republicans have no spine.
The linguist Deborah Tannen mentions this Arab proverb: “the one who repeats an insult is the one who is insulting you”.
I wonder if something like this is in play here :-)